Fried rice is a common street food in Asia. Food carts can be found all over selling this delicious dish with many other sides and to accompany it. Fried rice first made its debut in China during the Sui Dynasty around the year 581! The country had been broken into different groups in the North and South for 4 centuries before that and I’d like to think fried rice is what brought it all together ha-ha. Ok all of this is true except there is no proof rice created peace.
I’m pretty sure most people have had fried rice at some point in their lives. There a SO many different versions, some with vegetables, some with pork, seafood, or tofu. I enjoy a full plate with all of the above sometimes but my husband who is Japanese/Hawaiian likes a simple fry. As he says, “Don’t contaminate my rice!” LOL. That guy! Now he does like good pork fried rice sometimes and we love a local restaurant close to our home that has a really good one. In fact, we chose our home’s location with the restaurant in mind so we could still be on the delivery list. THAT is how much we love our Chinese food.
My version is really easy to make and requires a quick trip to the local Asian food mart. Msg is used in this recipe which gives us the umami taste. Now I know there is a lot of controversy about msg so if you choose not to use this savory salt that is completely ok! I would recommend maybe adding a bit more soy sauce.
Doesn’t that look yummy?
Let’s get cooking!
Delicious Fried Rice!
Equipment
- Wok or large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
- 1/2 cup peanut or vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1/2 shallot, minced
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 tbsp. fish sauce
- 1/4- 1/2 cup dark soy sauce add less or more to taste
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- 2 tbsp. sambal chili sauce add less or more to taste
- 1/2 1 tbsp. msg ( add less or more to taste) can substitute soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp black or white pepper
- 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Add the oil to the wok and heat up on med-high temp. When the wok starts to smoke, pick up and CAREFULLY swirl the oil around the wok to coat all the sides. Then pour out (discard) half of the oil.
- Returning back to the stove with half the oil, now add the garlic and shallot. Cook for about 2 minutes or until very light golden brown. Stirring constantly.
- Next in wok is the eggs, stir continually and scramble.
- Add the rice, mix it all in well.
- Now comes the fish sauce, stir, soy, stir, sesame oil, stir, pepper, sambal, and msg. You guessed it.. . stir.
- Cook for 1- 2 minutes and add the green onions. Stir continually and cook until the rice is golden or until desired doneness.
- Plate and enjoy!
Video
