EASY 20-Minute Fried Rice Recipe - I Heart Naptime (2024)

FAQs

How to make rice for fried rice the same day? ›

After briefly resting the pot on the counter with a dish towel under the lid (to absorb excess moisture), spread the rice on a baking sheet to help it cool more rapidly to room temperature, and pop the sheet in the fridge for just 20 minutes. The resulting fried rice will be ideally dry and the clumps of rice minimal.

Use equal amounts of rice and water. BOIL water. ADD rice, stir, cover & remove from heat. WAIT 5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed, then fluff.

Precook the rice at least 30 minutes, but preferably one day, before making fried rice and keep it uncovered in the fridge. Place the rice into a fine sieve and wash with water to remove excess starch. Drain the water and place the rice into a saucepan.

You can also use day-old brown rice, however it will create a less-authentic taste and texture, even though it's still delicious. Sesame oil. I do not recommend omitting or substituting the sesame oil in this recipe. It is key to the authentic flavor of this dish.

The usage of rice

In Fried Rice, most quick-service restaurants (QSRs) use long-grain white rice like Basmati, whereas Jasmine Rice is used in Chinese Rice. If you love rice unconditionally, you should definitely try out Fried Rice varieties (available in veg & no-veg) from Hong's Kitchen.

1) Use cold rice: You've gotta plan ahead and use thoroughly-chilled cooked rice. A fresh batch of warm (or even lukewarm) rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in soggy and sticky clumps — no good. So leftover refrigerated rice is ideal!

ADD water and rice. Add oil if desired. BOIL water, reduce heat to medium and cover. SIMMER for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed, then fluff.

After about 15 minutes, check on your rice: It should almost taste al-dente. What I mean by this is that it should be fully cooked through, but should taste drier than normal steamed rice.

The mirin will not only deglaze the pan, picking up the savory bits left by the chicken, but it will also impart a gentle, sweet undertone to the pan-fried vegetables. Of course, you can always add mirin directly to the rice as you're frying the rice. This would be akin to adding salt, soy sauce, or MSG.

To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

Do Chinese restaurants use butter in fried rice? ›

That's one of the major differences between how Chinese and Japanese restaurants prepare fried rice. Whereas the former only uses oil, the latter cooks leftover grains with butter (plus soy sauce).

Spread it out in a thin layer on a baking sheet or tray so it cools rapidly. Then, when cold, put into a container, cover and chill in the fridge. Keep the rice for no more than a day before reheating it – and then only reheat it once. Whichever reheating method you use, make sure the rice is piping hot before serving.

Let the rice stand for one to two hours until it's cooled to room temperature. Resting and cooling your rice allows excess moisture to evaporate, which also helps keep grains from clumping. If you want to do this a day or two ahead, let the rice cool completely, then refrigerate it in an airtight container.

If you are like me and don't always plan ahead make sure to cook your rice first and allow it time to completely cool in the fridge or freezer. Fried rice is best when it is made with cold rice. You can even cook the rice the night before. The longer the rice sits the better it tastes!