This Spicy Egg Fried Rice is a popular side dish that compliments most Chinese dishes, especially our super tasty Spicy Chicken Wings and Salt and Pepper Chicken. It is the perfect recipe if you are looking for a quick weekday meal especially if you have some leftover jasmine or basmati rice in your fridge.
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This "better than takeaway" Chinese Egg Fried Rice dish is super easy to make and it comes together in just 15 minutes, especially if you have leftover rice in your fridge! All you need is to grab your ingredients and start cooking.
Why This Recipe Works?
- It is a very easy recipe to follow with step-by-step pictures and instructions.
- This is the best way to use up any leftover rice in your fridge.
- You can freeze the leftovers for up to 3 months.
- It's versatile, you can use any vegetables you have in hand. You can add some protein such as prawns or leftover chicken pieces to turn it into a substantial meal.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Rice - The best results come when using a long grain type for this dish, ideally jasmine or basmati rice.
- Eggs - They add great flavour, texture and protein to this vegetarian rice dish.
- Carrots & peas - I love the texture and colour they add as well as the flavour. You can choose any other vegetables you have in hand. Other vegetables you can use are mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, mange tout, cabbage or green beans.
- Spring onions - You can also use Chinese chives if you have them in hand.
- Garlic - I use finely sliced fresh garlic, no need to finely chop it. Adjust the amount if you think this is too much or not enough garlic for you.
- Butter - Although butter is not a common ingredient in Chinese cooking, I prefer using it for cooking the eggs as it adds lots of flavour to the dish and browns everything perfectly.
- Red chilli - Adjust the amount to your taste or skip it.
- Sesame oil - It adds a distinctively nutty taste to the rice. You can substitute it with walnut oil or leave it out. You can buy it from Asian shops or large supermarkets as well as from Amazon
- Sweet chilli sauce - I love the sweetness it adds to this spicy rice. I buy it from Asian shops or amazon
- Soy Sauce - I use Kikkoman all-purpose soy sauce for this recipe. Increase the amount if you want to use a low-sodium version or add extra salt.
- Mirin - Same as sesame oil, you can buy it from Asian shops or large supermarkets as well as from amazon. You can substitute mirin with dry sherry or sweet marsala wine.
Cooking Instructions
Although this is a very simple recipe, you need to follow a few tips and steps to achieve the best results:
Prepare the Rice
If you don't have leftover rice or you forgot to cook it a day ahead, use freshly cooked rice. Wash the rice until running cold water, and wash it until the water from the rice runs clear. Put the rice in a pan with plenty of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the rice using a fine sieve, cool it down under running cold water and let it drain for 5 minutes.
Spread the rice on a large tray and put it in the fridge uncovered for an hour or in the freezer for 20 minutes. This will help the rice to dry a bit. The rice clamps up when cooled so fluff it up and break it apart using a fork or do it with your lightly damp fingertips before using.
Do Your mise-en-place in Advance
Egg Fried Rice is a very quick dish to prepare, so have all your ingredients ready before you start. Make sure you measure the sauce ingredients and then mix them in a bowl, slice the vegetables and beat the eggs. Have your rice on a plate fluffed up.
Get Ready for Action
When you have your rice cooled and your mise en place ready, grab a large wok or skillet and put on high heat. A wok works best for egg-fried rice as it spreads the heat evenly and adds smokiness to the dish. When the wok is hot enough, add the butter and then let it slightly brown before adding the beaten eggs. Quickly scramble the eggs and then set them aside on a plate.
Turn the heat down to medium and add vegetable oil or peanut oil to the same wok/pan. Add the carrots and stir fry for 2 minutes until slightly softened but still crunchy. Add the frozen peas, garlic, spring onions, and red chilli and stir fry for 2 more minutes.
Turn the heat up again and add half of the fluffed-up rice. Stir fry for a minute then add the other half of the rice, stir fry for two more minutes. Add sesame oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper or white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, oyster sauce and mirin. Give it a quick stir and add the scrambled eggs.
Stir fry for another minute and garnish with some chopped chives and red chillies before serving.
Related Recipes
For other great rice dishes why not try:
I prefer using vegetable oil or peanut oil for sautéing the vegetables and butter for scrambled eggs. Toasted sesame oil adds a rich and nutty flavour but it's not ideal for cooking and needs to be added ion the end of the cooking process.
This delicious side dish compliments most Asian dishes such as Spicy Chicken Wings, Stir-Fried Beef or Salt and Pepper Chicken.
Top Tip From the Chef
For the best results, use cold or leftover rice. Freshly cooked rice is too wet and therefore, it makes the rice grains clump together. If you decide to use freshly cooked rice, you would end up with a soggy mess.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this delicious Egg Fried Rice as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
Egg Fried Rice Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 250 g jasmine rice or basmati rice (or 750 grams cooked and cooled rice)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or peanut oil
- 1 medium carrot (small diced)
- 200 g frozen peas
- 4 spring onions (sliced)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 red chili (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or white pepper
- 2 tablespoon all purpose soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- ½ tablespoon mirin
- chopped chives, sliced spring onion or red chillies for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the rice until running cold water until the water from the rice runs clear.
- Put the rice in a pan with plenty of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Drain the rice using a fine sieve, cool it down under running cold water and let it drain for 5 minutes.
- Spread the rice on a tray and leave it in the fridge for one hour or 20 minutes in the freezer until it's thoroughly chilled.
- Fluff up the rice and break it apart using a fork or do it with your lightly damped fingertips.
- Heat a large wok on high heat and add butter.
- When the butter is slightly browned, add the eggs and quickly scramble, set aside on a plate.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add vegetable oil or peanut oil to the pan then add the carrots, stir fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the frozen peas, garlic, spring onions, red chilli and stir fry for another minute.
- Turn the heat to high again and add half of the rice, stir fry for a minute then add the rest of the rice, stir fry for two more minutes.
- Add sesame oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper or white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, oyster sauce and mirin, give it a quick stir before adding the scrambled eggs.
- Stir fry for another minute and garnish with some chopped coriander and spring onion before serving.
emilia
I prepared this recipe and it was very easy and really delicious.
Ayla Clulee
Dear Emilia
I am very pleased you liked my recipe and thank you for letting me know 🙂
Best wishes
Ayla
Marina
Tried this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. Ideal for quick lunch/meal planning as it was so easy to prepare.
Ayla Clulee
Hi Marina,
So happy you tried my recipe and glad you liked it.
Best wishes
Ayla
Ayla
Amazing
Heather
Just made this. It tastes incredible and was so easy to make!! Thank you for this recipe.