Easy Chicken Fried Rice Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in Chinese fried rice? ›

The presence of sugar or another sweet substitute can help bring balance to the salty, savory elements in your meal, and if you're creating a fried rice recipe with kimchi, the sweetness can complement some of the sour elements from the fermented ingredient.

To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

The answer: high heat, expert tosses, and something known as 'wok hei. ' As J. Kenji López-Alt writes for Serious Eats, expert cooking with a wok (and the gas range it requires) is one of the main reasons that fried rice from a Chinese restaurant tastes so much better than what you can make at home.

Starting with freshly cooked or well-chilled rice guarantees it won't clump up as you stir-fry it. Frying in batches compensates for the low heat output of Western stovetops. Keeping the seasoning very light allows the flavor of the rice and aromatics to come through.

Eggs: Which add great flavor, texture and protein. Carrots, onions, green onions and peas: This is the base mix of veggies that I always use for fried rice, but feel free to add in other stir-fry veggies you love (see ideas below).

Soy sauce fried rice (酱油炒饭, Jiang You Chao Fan) is a classic. It is not just another fried rice. It's a signature of Chinese cooking, as it uses pretty minimal ingredients to create a wonderful flavor.

No, there ISN'T supposed to be “black stuff” in your fried rice. It's okay, though, because nobody would put anything black in your fried rice that isn't intended to be there. It's more than a little strange to be examining your food so very closely. Either you trust the cook, or you should cook for yourself.

Pick the Right Ingredients

There are three main ingredients of fried rice: eggs, vegetables and meat. Scrambled throughout the rice, eggs bring savory flavors and protein, while vegetables like broccoli, peas, carrots, and edamame add variety and depth to the dish. The more you have, the more robust the flavor.

Add the cooked rice to the wok, the soy sauce, dark soy sauce and rice vinegar. Toss everything together and cook until the rice is pale brown and toasted. It should have a chewy texture and should take about 3 minutes.

How can you get that “taste” of fried rice from restaurants? The three main flavorings in most Chinese foods seem to be soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil. First you need cold rice. Then toss it with some soy sauce and let it sit in the fridge.

Why add mayo to fried rice? ›

To ensure that your rice is nicely fried, mix a bit of mayo in it before frying. The oil in the mayo will coat the rice so that it does not stick together.

Sesame oil.

I do not recommend omitting or substituting the sesame oil in this recipe. It is key to the authentic flavor of this dish.

The secret is all in the prep: use precooked rice for the best results, and leftover char siu pork is the perfect flavour burst. Make the fried rice stir-fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, shaoxing wine and sugar. Prepare, measure and chop all ingredients before cooking.

Onion, Garlic, Scallions – These are your aromatics AKA your best friend in building flavor. Carrots, Peas – Most takeout restaurants use carrots and peas; this is what I like to use, too! However, you can always customize this to your liking! MSG – I like to use MSG in my cooking but this is always optional.

The method used to make Mexican rice involves lightly frying the uncooked rice in oil which helps it absorb more flavor from the seasoning and cook to a perfect consistency. In addition, a traditional blend of spices and diced vegetables and potatoes create unique flavor.

Thirdly, the right order is to pan fry eggs, then followed by rice. Many people make the mistake to put in rice first, then pour in whisked eggs. This would make the rice soggy and mushy by absorbing the egg mixture.

Allow the pot to sit on the warm hotplate for 10 minutes to allow the steam to continue cooking the rice. Use a fork to fluff the rice grains and transfer to a large baking tray. Place the rice, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (overnight is best though) before using for fried rice.

Fried rice syndrome is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus cereus, which is present in these types of starchy foods prior to cooking. Bacillus cereus is a heat-resistant bacteria, so even recooking foods that have not been appropriately refrigerated can result in food poisoning.

Day old rice is needed to avoid the rice being soggy. It also means that it's cold and dry enough so that it will fry in the wok in the oil, vs. basically steaming if you used fresh cooked rice. Don't mess about with the oil.

Chinese fried rice uses ingredients like garlic, ginger, white pepper, msg, and soy sauce to give it an incredibly aromatic flavor with lots of umami! Additionally, I love cooking my fried rice dishes in a wok to add a smoky element or wok hei to the final dish.

What is special fried rice made of? ›

Special Fried Rice is an easy and flavorful Chinese rice dish made by stir-frying cooked rice with vegetables and protein, seasoned with soy sauce and spices.

The difference between Yangzhou fried rice and ordinary fried rice is that Yangzhou style invariably includes a combination of proteins. Rather than using a single protein like shrimp or pork or chicken as the dominant ingredient in fried rice, Yangzhou uses a variety.