Fried Rice
Basic directions to make Fried Rice with leftover rice and any ingredients you can find in your fridge.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 tbsp oil for frying
- 2 eggs, beaten * Optional
- ½ cup aromatics, eg spring onion, white onion, chopped garlic, grated ginger and/or chopped fresh chilli If you are using spring onion (scallions), use the white parts for the aromatics and reserve the green parts for sprinkling over at the end.
- 2 cups cold, leftover rice
- 1 cup protein of your choice, eg chopped ham, cold chicken, steak strips or tofu
- 1 to 2 cups veggies of your choice, eg sliced green beans, carrots, asparagus, broccoli or cabbage You can also use frozen veggies like peas, corn or a mixture.
- 1 to 2 tbsp soy sauce * Optional
- 1 tsp sesame oil * Optional
- salt, pepper or MSG to taste
- 1 to 2 tbsp green herbs or spring onion tops, chopped * Optional
Instructions
- In a wok or large non-stick frying pan, add oil and beaten eggs and scramble the eggs quickly using a spatula. * See note
- Remove scrambled eggs from the wok. Add more oil and fry aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger or chilli) over medium to high heat until translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add your protein of choice and stir-fry lightly for a few minutes. If you are using raw meat or fish, make sure you fry it until mostly cooked.
- Add your veggies of choice and stir-fry for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add your cold, cooked rice and mix it through the contents of the wok. Stir-fry everything together until the rice is warmed up. You can add a little bit more oil if necessary. Add the scrambled eggs back to the wok and mix through.
- Now add your seasoning of choice, like salt, pepper, MSG, chicken bouillion powder, soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir and toss everything together, making sure the protein you have added is cooked through and the rice is warmed up.
- Serve in bowls with chopped green herbs, sliced spring onions or chilli crisp scattered over.
Notes
- The quantities given are just a suggestion. Use as much or as little ingredients as you want. It will probably work best if you have the same amount of rice as the protein and veggies together, but this is not a hard rule. This adds to its amazing versatility - you can have a quick meal for one with just a few ingredients, or a whole family meal!
- The recipe as given will probably serve 3 to 4 people for lunch and 2 to 3 people as a main meal.
- Proper chefs might scramble the eggs in a part of the wok away from the frying aromatics, but I am not that coordinated, so I scramble my eggs first and then remove the eggs from the wok before starting on the aromatics.