Homemade Fried Rice That Will Have Them Asking for Seconds
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House fried rice is one of my boys’ favorite dishes when we go out to eat. I generally like it, too. I’ve noticed over the years (we don’t eat out often) that most restaurants seem to be getting skimpier on the meat, eggs, and veggies and heavier on the white rice. I figured homemade fried rice can’t be that complicated to make – right? So hubby and I went hunting on the internet and came up with a recipe that sounded about right, then we tweaked it a little and this is where we ended up.
I start with the Basic Brown Rice 1 recipe from Nourishing Traditions.
PrintBasic Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain brown rice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon gelatin (if I use chicken stock with plenty of feet, I skip the extra gelatin)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
In a heavy, flameproof casserole, melt butter and olive oil. (I use my heavy bottom stainless steel 12 quart pot.) Saute rice in butter and oil, stirring constantly, until rice begins to turn milky. (This step will often attract little boys to the kitchen with comments of, “What smells so good?”)
Pour in liquid, add salt and gelatin and bring to a rolling boil. Boil, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until the water had reduced to the level of the rice. Reduce flame to lowest heat, cover tightly and cook for at least 1 1/2 hours or as long as 3 hours. Do not remove lid during cooking.
The rice goes on to cook in advance, closer to mealtime you prep everything else. Here’s the recipe we used.
Homemade Fried Rice with Shrimp
INGREDIENTS:
4 ounces frozen uncooked shrimp, unshelled
Marinade:
1 tablespoon oyster sauce, or to taste (look for one made with real oysters)
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste (look for real fermented soy sauce, without HFCS or artificial colors)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons water
Other:
4 ounces cooked ham
1 medium onion
2 green onions
2 eggs (more if desired, I usually use four or five)
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 or 2 carrots, finely chopped
4 cups cold cooked rice
4 to 5 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed (I like sesame oil)
PREPARATION:
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Run the frozen shrimp under warm running water, pat dry with paper towels, shell and devein. Chop into pieces. Add the marinade ingredients and marinate for 15 minutes.
Dice the ham, onion, and green onion. (Sometimes we skip the ham and add chicken, sometimes we just double up on the shrimp. A lot of the time we don’t have green onion, so we just skip it.)
Beat the eggs lightly with chopsticks, add a dash of salt, and mix.* Set aside.
Heat the wok and then add 1 tablespoon oil. (I don’t have a wok, so we just use our REALLY BIG frying pan.) When oil is ready, pour 1/2 of the egg mixture into the wok and cook over medium heat, turning over once. Cook the other half the same way. Cut the egg into thin strips, and save for later. (Sometimes husband will mix the egg with the rice later on, me, I’m a fan of egg strips.)
Add 2 tablespoons oil, or as needed. When oil is hot, stir-fry the onion and shrimp on high heat for a few moments, remove and set aside. Do the same for the green peas, and then the diced ham.
Uh, yeah, I generally go heavier on the veggies. This batch had about a cup of peas and one each purple and orange carrot. I mixed photos from two different batches of rice, because I didn’t get a photo of the finished product when I the in progress photos. The boys were very hungry. 🙂
Add 1 – 2 tablespoons oil, turn the heat down to medium and stir-fry the rice. Add a bit of soy and oyster sauce if desired. Add the other ingredients except the egg and green onion and combine thoroughly. Serve the fried rice with the strips of egg on top and the green onion as garnish.**
*You can also add a bit of oyster sauce if desired
**Alternately, you can mix the green onion and egg in with the other ingredients.
And that’s it. You end up with a large batch of very filling fried rice. For our family of four, we easily get two meals out of this recipe. The boys like it a lot. In fact, just last weekend we were in town running errands on Saturday and were thinking about eating supper in town. The boys both said they would rather come home and eat leftovers (which was this fried rice). The photo at the top of the page is some of the leftover rice. (Hubby finished that batch, so there are no egg hunks.) It reheats pretty well in a skillet or the microwave, and is a handy one skillet meal. I watch for sales on the shrimp to make it less expensive, but you could also substitute chicken or whatever meat you have available, or add more veggies and eggs.
Printable Recipe
PrintHomemade Fried Rice
Ingredients
4 ounces frozen uncooked shrimp, unshelled
Marinade:
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, or to taste (look for one made with real oysters)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste (look for real fermented soy sauce, without HFCS or artificial colors)
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons water
Other:
- 4 ounces cooked ham
- 1 medium onion
- 2 green onions
- 2 eggs (more if desired, I usually use four or five)
- 1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1 or 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 4 cups cold cooked rice
- 4 to 5 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed (I like sesame oil)
Instructions
Run the frozen shrimp under warm running water, pat dry with paper towels, shell and devein. Chop into pieces. Add the marinade ingredients and marinate for 15 minutes.
Dice the ham, onion, and green onion. (Sometimes we skip the ham and add chicken, sometimes we just double up on the shrimp. A lot of the time we don’t have green onion, so we just skip it.)
Beat the eggs lightly with chopsticks, add a dash of salt, and mix.* Set aside.
Heat the wok and then add 1 tablespoon oil. (I don’t have a wok, so we just use our REALLY BIG frying pan.) When oil is ready, pour 1/2 of the egg mixture into the wok and cook over medium heat, turning over once. Cook the other half the same way. Cut the egg into thin strips, and save for later. (Sometimes husband will mix the egg with the rice later on, me, I’m a fan of egg strips.)
Add 2 tablespoons oil, or as needed. When oil is hot, stir-fry the onion and shrimp on high heat for a few moments, remove and set aside. Do the same for the green peas, and then the diced ham.
Add 1 – 2 tablespoons oil, turn the heat down to medium and stir-fry the rice. Add a bit of soy and oyster sauce if desired. Add the other ingredients except the egg and green onion and combine thoroughly. Serve the fried rice with the strips of egg on top and the green onion as garnish.**
*You can also add a bit of oyster sauce if desired
**Alternately, you can mix the green onion and egg in with the other ingredients.