Egg Fried Rice (Quick!)

Get the sauce right and you can make a seriously tasty fried rice in less than 10 minutes using virtually anything! This is a super quick one made with egg and frozen veggies, but I couldn’t resist adding a handful of bacon for added tastiness. Save time by scrambling the eggs in with the rice rather than cooking it separately, a neat little trick I picked up from Thai cooking!

Hands up if you have bags of frozen cooked rice on hand at all times? Gold star for you. Stick it right in the middle of your forehead, and wear it proudly.

And if you don’t – time to get on board the frozen rice train! No more waiting for the rice to cook + rest (25 minutes) when you’re whipping up a 12 minute stir fry using Charlie, my All Purpose Chinese Stir Fry Sauce. And if you have frozen rice on hand, you’ll always have an easy answer to that question that haunts so many people each day:

What’s for dinner?

Fill out a frittata or omelette, or bulk up Egg Muffins, to turn them into a one stop meal. Stir it into this 15 minute Chinese Chicken Corn Soup and add vegetables to make a complete meal. Make just the soup broth from my Wonton Soup, stir in cooked rice and vegetables. Try a rice salad or toss rice through with your favourite dressing with some herbs to make a great side. Whisk some eggs, stir through rice, cheese, green onions and herbs then pan fry until golden and crisp – cheesy rice fritters!  Fry rice up with onion, garlic, mince meat of choice and use some of the spice flavourings in this Chicken Shawarma, maybe some grated carrot and zucchini then stuff it inside capsicum/bell peppers and bake (or try tomatoes or scraped out zucchini boats).

Or make FRIED RICE! Here’s a Chinese Fried Rice with Prawns, Nasi Goreng (Indo Fried Rice) and Thai Fried Rice. Oh – and there’s always today’s Egg Fried Rice 😂…

Today’s Egg Fried Rice is a super quick one, a great standby because if you’re like me, you always have eggs, you always have some kind of frozen veg or other bits and bobs in the bottom of your fridge. You always have a stash of frozen rice and more often than not, you’ll find a couple of rashes of bacon shoved in the freezer somewhere.

The bacon is actually optional in this. I was going to share the recipe without…. but it’s an added bonus with.

So it’s in. But it doesn’t have to be. Ham is also a great alternative – and more frequently found in everyday Chinese takeout fried rice.

If you make Egg Fried Rice “properly”, you’ll make a thin omelette using the eggs, roll it up, chop it, then toss it back into the wok with the rice. Me – I make Egg Fried Rice as a lazy quick meal. So I scramble the eggs on the side of the wok – or skillet. It sounds cheeky, but actually, this is a technique common in Thai Stir Fries, like in the ever popular Pad See Ew. It works great!

I’ve used a basic mix of frozen chopped vegetables in this, because I totally buy into the whole “snap frozen” thing. Just carrots, peas and corn.

But don’t let my laziness influence you. Feel free to use fresh veggies! – Nagi x

PS I’ve used a wok here but it’s not essential. A skillet will work just fine, but I recommend using a bit more oil to compensate for larger surface area. Also, if you use a large skillet, you can scale up the recipe. I’ve added these tips in the recipe. 😇

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Egg Fried Rice

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

A super quick meal, using egg for protein and frozen veggies for convenience. Just don't skimp on the sauce and you can have homemade Chinese takeout faster than it takes to order in! Tip: Keep bags of cooked rice in the freezer, see notes for tips. See notes for scaling recipe up and using skillet instead of wok, and for GF option. Recipe VIDEO below.

Servings: 2 - 3 people

Calories: 522 kcal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1/2 onion , finely chopped
• 120 g/4 oz bacon , chopped (optional, or use ham)
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups frozen diced vegetables (I used peas, corn, carrots)
• 2 cups, packed, cooked white rice (day old refrigerated or frozen defrosted (Note 1))
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 3/4 cup shallots / scallions / green onions , sliced

Sauce:

• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (or sake or Mirin or dry sherry) (Note 3)
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (or light or all purpose) (Note 4)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil , optional
• 1/4 tsp white pepper

Instructions

1. Heat about 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a wok or 2 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat until smoking.
2. Add onion, garlic and bacon. Cook until bacon is light golden - about 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Add vegetables (still frozen is fine). Cook for 2 minutes so they defrost and water evaporates.
4. Add rice and Sauce ingredients. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes until liquid evaporates.

5. Shove rice to the side of the wok / skillet. Add 1/2 tbsp oil into the cleared space, shift wok so the heat is centred over the cleared space. Pour in egg then scramble - cook it through properly, don't "soft scramble".

6. Add shallots then stir the egg into the rice. Remove from heat and serve immediately!

Recipe Notes

1. You need day old rice that's been refrigerated or frozen (then thawed) because the rice grains dry out, making them ideal for fried rice. Sticky freshly cooked rice is no good for fried rice - it makes fried rice gluey. Long grain white rice is best for fried rice because it is the least sticky once cooked. But brown rice, medium and short grain white rice, basmati and jasmine also works (albeit the last 2 will have a non Chinese fragrance). Sushi rice, paella and risotto rice are not suitable for fried rice.

2. Here is how I cook white rice: Place 1 cup rice in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water over medium high heat. Put lid on, then when the water starts to simmer, immediately turn down to low or medium low so the water simmers gently. Leave for 12 minutes or until water is absorbed into rice (tilt saucepan to check). Do not stir or remove lid during cook time. Remove from stove but leave lid on, leave for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork. Refrigerate or freeze (for use in fried rice). If it's an emergency, cook the rice per above, spread on a tray and refrigerate until cold, then proceed with recipe.

3. Chinese cooking wine, or cooking sake, Mirin or dry sherry, is an essential ingredient for making a truly "restaurant standard" fried rice. Though many recipes suggest using liquid chicken broth, please do not do this - it makes your fried rice wet and gluey!

If you can't consume alcohol, adjust recipe as follows: Reduce oyster and soy sauce to 2 tsp each, and add 1 tbsp water to the Sauce. Proceed with recipe. When you add the rice, add 1/2 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder (or bouillon cube crumbled). Stir through, then add remaining Sauce ingredients exc the Cooking wine. Proceed with recipe, add tiny sprinkle of salt at end if you want it saltier.

4. Broadly speaking, there are 3 common types of soy sauce: all purpose ("normal") soy sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce adds a tinge of darker colour and a touch of extra flavour which is why I like using it in fried rice. But any soy sauce is fine for this (but not kecap manis or other sweet or flavoured soy sauces).

5. SKILLET: If using a skillet, add about 1/2 tbsp extra oil at the start to compensate for larger cooking surface. Also, if you use a large skillet, you can scale up the recipe by 50% - click on the Servings number and slide the scaler until the rice becomes 3 cups, it will change all the ingredients. Once you add the rice, use 2 wooden spoons to toss it - makes up for not having the high walls of a wok.

6. GLUTEN FREE: Make sure you use gluten free soy sauce and Oyster Sauce if you want to make this gluten free. 

7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 3 servings. I find that this is sufficient for a meal - and no one has ever accused me of eating like a bird!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

LIFE OF DOZER

I upsized my little 2 seater convertible to a smallish 4WD because he grew out of it and hated the wind in his eyes when we were zooming around with the top down.

All that for a bloody dog, and yet he was so unhappy shoved in the boot, he’d stand with his chin on the back seat so that drool dripped down the leather seats (sorry to gross you out).

I caved and folded down the back seat to give him more space. I find it so ironic that I upsized to a larger car just for him, and yet I drive around with the back seat permanently folded down. 🙄