In western countries, rice is often seen as a side dish exclusively eaten at dinnertime. In many east Asian countries, however, fried rice is a staple for any time of day – especially breakfast. Shake up your brunch routine with this traditional recipe from Barbara Tropp’s China Moon Cookbook the next time you have leftover white rice on hand!
Traditional Fried Rice
Serves 3 to 4 as a One-Bowl Meal
Fried rice in China is a meal-in-a-bowl—typically a dish of cold cooked rice that is stir-fried with a mélange of colorful diced meats and vegetables. It can be as simple as last night’s leftover rice tossed together with last night’s chicken, or as glamorous as a Chinese banquet featuring pricey bits of minced cured ham, tiny shrimp, matchsticks of honeyed pork, and so on into colorful lushness.
The cooked rice for stir-frying behaves best in the pan when it has been left uncovered overnight to dry. If you are hungering for the dish and working with freshly cooked rice, a nonstick skillet will help.
- 2 to 3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
- 1 small yellow or red onion, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 3½ cups cold cooked white rice, short- or medium-grain preferred, broken into separate grains
- Stock or water, if needed (See Note below)
- 1 cup blanched fresh greens, such as asparagus nuggets, peas, broccoli florets, or zucchini coins
- ¼ pound cooked cold meat, poultry, or fish, such as slivered or cubed chicken, beef, or pork, or chunks of cold salmon, shrimp, or scallops
- 1 to 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
1. Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact. Add 1½ teaspoons of the oil and swirl to glaze the pan. Reduce the heat to moderately high, add the onion, and toss until half-cooked, about 1½ minutes. Add the bell pepper and carrots, and toss until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes more. Drizzle a bit more oil down the side of the pan, if needed to prevent sticking; adjust the heat, as needed, to maintain a lusty sizzle without scorching the vegetables.
2. Add the rice and toss to blend and heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add a bit more oil, if needed to prevent sticking. (If the rice is overly dry, now is the moment to reduce the heat to low and swirl in the stock. Toss to combine, cover the pan, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 4 minutes.)
3. When the rice is very hot to the touch, add the greens and toss to heat through, about 1 minute. Add the meat, poultry, or fish, and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste. Fold in the scallion rings.
4. Serve at once in heated bowls of contrasting color.
Note: Overly dry rice requires a bit of stock or water to turn it pleasantly moist. This can be added to the pan just after the rice is tossed with the first vegetables: Cover and steam the rice and stock mixture over low heat until the rice steams through and absorbs the stock. For 3½ cups of overly dry rice, you would need about 1 cup of unsalted stock.
Menu Suggestions
Fried rice in this simple, traditional form is a nutritionally balanced one-bowl meal. If you were eliminating the meat, however, it would be a colorful accompaniment to any of our steamed fish or poultry dishes.
The “Julia Child of Chinese cooking” (San Francisco Chronicle), Barbara Tropp was the chef/owner of one of San Francisco’s most popular restaurants and the inventor of modern Chinese bistro.
Get her award-winning China Moon Cookbook for just $2.99 this month!
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