Easy Fried Rice

It happens more often that I have leftover rice from the day before. It is not so important whether it is basmati rice, jasmine rice or parboiled rice. The main thing is that it is white (and not additionally seasoned).

This makes for a wonderful, super simple fried rice the next day, the kind you usually only get in Chinese restaurants.

Cold Rice

You’ve gotta plan ahead and use thoroughly-chilled cooked rice. A fresh batch of warm (or even lukewarm) rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in soggy and sticky clumps — no good. So leftover refrigerated rice is ideal! Or, if you are in a hurry, just cook up a fresh batch of rice. Then spread it out on a baking sheet or another large flat pan, drape the rice with a layer of plastic wrap, then pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes) until it is thoroughly chilled (not frozen).

Any veggies you like

This is one of my big pet peeves with lame take-out fried rice — not enough veggies! In addition to adding some nice spots of color, veggies add some flavor and freshness to fried rice.

Add whatever you like

Meat? Seafood? Why not...

You can either sauté some chicken in a separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Or even better, shred leftovers from yesterday's chicken you made...

Or sauté a steak or brown ground beef in a separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then crumble or dice and add to your rice.

Or sauté half a pound of peeled, raw shrimp in separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then add the shrimp to your rice.

The sky and your imagination is the limit. And of course, this dish is gluten-free.

Ingredients

For 4 people:

500 g pre-cooked cold (!) rice

1 leek, cut into strips

4 carrots, peeled and cut into small strips

100 g peas (frozen)

300 g broccoli (without stem), cut into small pieces

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 red bell pepper , cut into small pieces

250 g Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into strips

1 spring onion, in strips

6 eggs

75 g butter

oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons fish sauce

4 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce (tamari)

Preparation

Heat up a large sauté pan, then add butter, oil and the sesame oil. Add your veggies and sauté them and garlic until soft and cooked through. Have the lid on. Reduce the heat to medium.

While the veggies get cooked, scramble your eggs. Using a small pat of butter, scramble some eggs in a different (!) l pan, breaking them into small pieces as you go. Then transfer the eggs to a separate plate, and set aside.

Then turn the heat of the veggie pan to high heat. Add the chilled rice, soy sauce, and fish sauce (if using). Then stir to combine with the veggies and continue sautéing the rice, stirring every 15-20 seconds or so for 3 minutes, or until you notice the rice and veggies starting to brown slightly.

Remove pan from heat. And stir in your green onions and scrambled eggs.

Taste and season. Give the rice a taste, and season with salt and pepper, plus any extra soy sauce or sesame oil if needed.