How to Make Perfect Fried Rice
Making perfect fried rice at home isn’t that difficult, but it does take a little know-how. 10 years ago I found great HOW-TO information on a blog (that I’ve since lost the address to, darn it). Maki was the expert/author and I’m giving full credit to him/her along with my gratitude for sharing their expertise!
Fried rice, a frugal dish, is quick to make and a great way to use leftover vegetables and meat. Perfect fried rice should have separate grains, each coated with a bit of oil and flavoring (not too greasy), and enhanced by bits of vegetables and/or meat or shrimp and fluffy yellow egg throughout.
It’s best made in a red hot wok on a strong gas flame—they don’t work all that well on electric cooking ranges. Maki advised not to even consider the stand-alone plug-in electric woks—what’s the point of a wok you can’t move around anyway? (And they’re space hogs.)
But Maki also had good news: It’s possible to make great fried rice with a weak heat source and even without a wok, and I’m sharing this technique. The procedure for using a frying pan rather than a wok is different, however. Also, if you have a gas range, you can still use these instructions by using medium to medium-high heat.
1 1/2 cups cooked, plain rice (pre-heated)
1 bunch chopped green onions (yellow or red will work also)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic or to taste
3/4 cup roughly chopped broccoli OR green peas
3/4 cup diced green bell peppers
3/4 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1/2 to 1 cups chopped, pre-cooked pork or ham
2 medium eggs or 1 large egg, precooked with salt and pepper; set aside
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos if cutting back on sodium)
cooking oil for frying
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
So to sum up, here are Maki’s key points to making fried rice in a frying pan:
Fried rice, a frugal dish, is quick to make and a great way to use leftover vegetables and meat. Perfect fried rice should have separate grains, each coated with a bit of oil and flavoring (not too greasy), and enhanced by bits of vegetables and/or meat or shrimp and fluffy yellow egg throughout.
It’s best made in a red hot wok on a strong gas flame—they don’t work all that well on electric cooking ranges. Maki advised not to even consider the stand-alone plug-in electric woks—what’s the point of a wok you can’t move around anyway? (And they’re space hogs.)
But Maki also had good news: It’s possible to make great fried rice with a weak heat source and even without a wok, and I’m sharing this technique. The procedure for using a frying pan rather than a wok is different, however. Also, if you have a gas range, you can still use these instructions by using medium to medium-high heat.
Frying Pan Fried Rice
Serving size: 2
Calories per serving: 694
Ingredients:
Calories per serving: 694
1 1/2 cups cooked, plain rice (pre-heated)
1 bunch chopped green onions (yellow or red will work also)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic or to taste
3/4 cup roughly chopped broccoli OR green peas
3/4 cup diced green bell peppers
3/4 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1/2 to 1 cups chopped, pre-cooked pork or ham
2 medium eggs or 1 large egg, precooked with salt and pepper; set aside
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos if cutting back on sodium)
cooking oil for frying
Directions:
1. Add prepped vegetables to hot oil in pan
2. Add cooked rice (if you decide to cook rice fresh, expressly for the purpose of making fried rice, use a little less water than you might normally do so you have cooked but firm and separate grains); if the rice gets stuck to the pan a bit, scrape it off as you go along; try not to add more oil at this point, as it makes the rice greasy
3. Add chopped, precooked meat
4. Add cooked eggs
5. Spread the cooking food to clear a space and pour the soy sauce onto that hot spot—it will sizzle; immediately mix sauce into all ingredients; ensuring the sauce flavor is distributed evenly and also adds a bit of toasty flavor to the whole thing
6. Test taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
7. Serve immediately while piping hot (cold fried rice is fine, but hot fried rice is much, much better)
2. Add cooked rice (if you decide to cook rice fresh, expressly for the purpose of making fried rice, use a little less water than you might normally do so you have cooked but firm and separate grains); if the rice gets stuck to the pan a bit, scrape it off as you go along; try not to add more oil at this point, as it makes the rice greasy
3. Add chopped, precooked meat
4. Add cooked eggs
5. Spread the cooking food to clear a space and pour the soy sauce onto that hot spot—it will sizzle; immediately mix sauce into all ingredients; ensuring the sauce flavor is distributed evenly and also adds a bit of toasty flavor to the whole thing
6. Test taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
7. Serve immediately while piping hot (cold fried rice is fine, but hot fried rice is much, much better)
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
So to sum up, here are Maki’s key points to making fried rice in a frying pan:
- The most important rule: Do not overcrowd the pan! That is the sure way to make sticky, greasy fried rice. If using a large 11 to 12 inch frying pan, then 3 cups of fried rice is probably the maximum you can do successfully at one time.
- Have all ingredients prepped before you start cooking.
- Warm up leftover rice before using it. Don’t use cold rice.
- If using an electric heat source, use the highest setting you can achieve. If using gas, use medium-high heat.
- Make sure your frying pan is hot, and that you use the entire bottom surface of the pan.
- Pre-cook the eggs first, then remove from pan to avoid having hard little egg-bullets.
- Cook and season the vegetables and meat/shrimp before adding the rice.
- If the rice sticks to the pan, just scrape it off; don’t add more oil—the rice will just become greasy.
- “Sizzle” the soy sauce on the bare surface of the frying pan rather than pouring soy sauce onto the rice.
Sources:
- www.eatingonadime.com
- www.gimmesomeoven.com
- www.saffronscafe.com
- www.bunsinmyoven.com
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
