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fry me a river how to make fab fried rice

basic fried rice
This will make enough fried rice for about 3 people if you’re doing this as an all-in-one-meal, 6 or so if you have other dishes to accompany it.

ingredients
Part of the beauty of making fried rice is that it lends itself to all sorts of variations. Here are some ideas for what you can use based on everyday ingredients you might have lying around at your disposal.

base necessities
You’ll need all of the following:

customize it
Add any of the following veggies, to yield about 2 cups worth:

Also add one or a combo of the following for protein:

final flavorings
You’ll need all of the following*:

*Note: Some folks I know like to flavor with soy sauce as well, but I have to say, this always weirds me out. The only place I’ve ever seen brown fried rice is, quite frankly, in Americanized Chinese restaurants; most Chinese cooks make a white fried rice that’s soy-sauce-free. That being said, you’re certainly welcome to try it out in your version if you like; just add to taste near the end of the cooking time, and try not to drown your rice: fried rice should not be soggy.

directions
1 Prep your ingredients. If you’re using chicken breast, marinate your chicken now (stir-fry it over high heat after 20 minutes, then set aside while you start in on frying your rice). As you wait for your chicken to marinate or if you’re not using chicken, you can attend to the following: Peel and mince up your garlic; trim off the root ends of the scallions, chopping up the remainder. Dice whatever veggies you’re using into small bite-sized bits (for carrots and peppers, I go with a ¼” or smaller cube). If you’re using frozen peas, pull them out of the freezer to thaw.

2 Pop your wok onto a burner and set the heat to high. When you see the very first tiny wisps of smoke rise up off the wok, pour in a tablespoon or so of cooking oil, and let it heat up for 15 seconds. Add the garlic and scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds, until nice and fragrant.

3 Add any raw veggies and stir-fry until crisp-tender. At this point, if you’re using ground meat, add the meat and stir-fry until the meat is just cooked through.

4 Toss in the rice and stir-fry everything for another couple of minutes, until the ingredients are mixed well and the rice warmed through; break up any clumps in the rice while you’re stirring.

5 At this point, if you’re using eggs, push everything that’s in the wok up towards the edges to form a nice well in the middle. Pour a bit of oil into the well. Add in your beaten eggs, and cook the eggs. As the bottom of the egg starts to set, scramble things up. When the eggs are just about cooked through, start integrating the surrounding rice and ingredients with the egg. Stir-fry for a few minutes until the egg is completely dry and combined well with the rest of the ingredients. At this point, if you have cooked chicken, frozen peas or cooked veggies, add them in and stir-fry for another couple of minutes until everything’s heated through.

6 Season the whole shebang with plenty of salt and pepper, along with a generous drizzle of sesame oil. Stir well. Turn off the heat and taste. If the flavor seems lacking, keep on adding those seasonings until the result suits your tastebuds (trust me, it’ll get there eventually). Enjoy!

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