Vegetable fried rice is a comforting dish that anyone can make at home and it takes no time to throw together. Make your rice the day before to make it even easier and use any vegetables you have on hand if you don’t want to buy them specifically for this recipe. Serve this alongside Chinese chicken and you will have a complete Chinese restaurant experience.
I don’t know about you but fried rice is one of my favorite dishes to order when I am at a Chinese restaurant. It may not be the healthiest or even that traditional in Asian cooking, but it is good!
A few years ago I began trying to make my own version at home and didn’t really like how it turned out. The recipes I was using just didn’t really come together properly to create that restaurant style taste.
After experimenting with different techniques and sauces, I finally found a fried rice recipe that tastes amazing, omits the egg in the dish and rivals many of the restaurants that I have eaten at over the years!! It just tastes amazing! For those who love the egg part don’t worry, I have included a “how to step” below.
The secret to this amazing fried rice recipe is in the sauce that you make and the heat that you cook the vegetables and rice in. The sauce is amazing and so easy to make.
The ingredients you will need for the sauce are:
- low sodium soy sauce
- brown sugar
- water
- fresh grated ginger
All very simple ingredients and nothing that is complicated. You just need to add all of these ingredients to a sauce pan and reduce it by about half its volume to get the perfect fried rice sauce.
The Rice:
Traditional fried rice recipes will use already cooked and cooled rice. Cooled down rice helps absorb the flavors of the sauce and it will change the texture of the final product a bit.
You can make your rice ahead of time if you want. I usually won’t remember to do this step (or have time) so I will make the rice when I am ready to make the fried rice recipe.
When I am making the rice at the same time I am making the recipe, I like to let my cooked rice sit for about 10 minutes with the lid off to let all the steam and heat escape. You can also go one step further and scoop it into a bowl and place it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to achieve the same result as rice made the day before.
No matter what method you use, I promise this rice will taste amazing! I have done all these methods and can attest for each one working out fine.
As I mentioned above, some people love their fried egg in the fried rice and this is a big selling point of the dish for them. You can easily add the egg to this dish and just follow the recipe exactly the same way.
If you are adding egg to the fried rice:
The first thing you want to do is follow the recipe below from start to finish. The egg portion of the recipe is done separately from the main recipe.
To make the egg for the fried rice you will gather 2 eggs and crack them into a small bowl and whisk them well (like you are making scrambled eggs).
Next you will add them to a small saute pan and cook it over medium heat until it looks like an omelette.
Once the omelette is cooked all the way through, just invert it on to a small plate and let cool.
Once it is cool, cut your egg into very thin strips and you can add this to the fried rice before serving. Just make sure to mix it into the rice so the egg is well incorporated into the dish.
Very simple!
My last tip is to make sure all of your vegetables are cut very thin. This will help the vegetables quick quickly in the high heat and it will create the perfect balance of rice and vegetables in each bite. This is a very important step!
This dish is so easy and so delicious and really makes the perfect quick meal! Go ahead and double this recipe and have enough for leftovers during the week either for quick lunches or meal prep!
Vegetable Fried Rice
Ingredients
Soy Sauce
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp of freshly grated ginger
- 1/4 cup of water
Rice and Vegetables
- 1 red pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups of snow peas cleaned trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
- 1 small can of water chestnuts drained and sliced you can buy them already sliced in the can
- 1 cup of uncooked basmati or jasmine rice This recipe works really well with pre-made rice too.
- 1 tbsp of vegetable oil or coconut oil
Instructions
Soy Sauce
- in a small sauce pan, stir together brown sugar, soy sauce, water and ground ginger and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until reduced in volume by half, about 15-20 minutes
Rice
- While the glaze is reducing, in a small pot, combine the rice, a big pinch of salt and 1 3/4 cups of water and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low.
- Simmer 12 to 14 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.
- When done, remove from heat and fluff the cooked rice with a fork and then set aside.
- Let the rice rest for 10 minutes. You can scoop your rice into a bowl and place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to cool it down more (optional)
The Vegetables
- In a large saute pan, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil or coconut oil on medium high heat.
- Once heated, add your peppers, snow peas and onions and saute for about 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are nicely browned and starting to cook through.
- Now add your water chestnuts and cook for another 1 minute.
- Add your soy sauce and mix well to coat all of your vegetables.
- Turn heat to low and now add your cooked and cooled rice to the pan mixing it into your vegetable and soy sauce mixture. Make sure to get your rice nice and coated with the sauce.
- Remove from the heat and plate!
- Top with toasted sesame seeds or serve alongside chicken or pork.your favorite meat or eat it just as is.
- Enjoy!
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