I loooove me some fried rice. It’s something I will always order off the menu at a restaurant because 1) I love rice in general and 2) It’s often one of the few options I can order (no egg please!). BUT, while I’m not always a stickler for oil-free foods when I eat out (though I do the best I can and reserve really junky food for rare, celebratory occasions), I wanted to figure out if there was a way to duplicate the iconic texture and flavor of restaurant-style friend rice at home without using any oil.
Turns out it wasn’t as difficult as I had originally thought (and took just two times testing it rather than a half dozen like some of my other recipes *cough* Blueberry Muffins *cough cough* and takes just a few tips and tricks to really nail it.
So here was my process:
I found out early on, thanks to the internet, that there are two great ways to make your rice less “sticky.” The first is to rinse and drain your rice multiple times before cooking, to remove the starchy dust that’s always on packaged rice. The second is to cook your rice in advance and cool it completely before making your fried rice – allowing it to cool down means you can break it up a little bit and prevent it from sticking to itself even more.
The creative piece I had to come up with on my own was a way to make it almost feel like the rice kernels were coated in oil, without actually coating them in oil; that shiny, oily fried feel is part of the experience of eating good fried rice. So I decided to mimic this by creating a thick sauce in the pan with the veggies and the cook with old trick of liquid, a little bit of sugar, some spices and cornstarch. And it worked wonderfully! The sauce coats the rice lightly, adding flavor, shine and even more separation between the kernels, resulting in a tasty and classic-feeling fried rice dish made simply, at home and oil-less.
When it comes to taste, this recipe is:
- Starchy
- Filling
- Flavor-packed
I also love that for the veggies, you can make this dish pretty much any way you’d like, using just a simple frozen mix of peas, carrots and corn, or adding in your own fresh veggies. You can also prep and add finely diced or broken up tofu into your dish, making it even better than the “no egg please” fried rice at a restaurant, and even make yourself some Oil-Free Crispy Tofu to throw on top and turn it into a whole dish.
It’s versatile, delicious, cheap, simple and healthy; what more could you want?
If you try out this recipe, please share it with me by commenting here or on my YouTube channel, or even tagging me in a photo on Instagram @plantsnotplastic. I read every comment and love hearing from you. Enjoy!
Take-Out Style Fried Rice
Equipment
- large non stick sauce or sauté pan
Ingredients
- 1/4 small onion finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ~16 ounces mixed vegetables I use 1/2 cup each peas, corn, and diced carrots and about 1 cup of mushrooms (cremini) [note#1]
- 1/2 cup water sub vegetable broth for more flavor or replace half with teriyaki sauce for even more
- 1/4 cup soy sauce sub tamari for gluten free
- 2 tsp sugar of choice optional; I use brown
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups cooked rice see [note #2] for preparation tips
Optional Additions
- 1/4 cup tofu cut into small cubes; only if not topping with Crispy Tofu at the end
- 1/2 bunch green onion ~3-4 onions, thinly sliced; for garnish
- ~1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds can toast yourself (see directions)
- 1/4 tsp+ sriracha for spice
Instructions
- If you're toasting your own sesame seeds, start warming them in large sauté pan over medium heat, moving them every 30 seconds to prevent them from burning until they turn brown and smell toasted.
- Add the onion, garlic and any hard veggies [note#1] to the large sauté pan and cook for 4-6 minutes over medium heat, or until the bottom of the pan begins to brown.
- Add your other veggies and cook them for and additional 4-6 minutes or until the bottom of your pan begins to brown again [note#1].
- While your veggies are cooking down, whisk together your water, soy sauce, sugar and sriracha (if using) to make your sauce, and separately make a slurry with the cornstarch and enough water to make a thin paste.
- Add the sauce to deglaze and bring it to a boil over a high heat. Then pour in your slurry slowly, stirring constantly to thicken the sauce.
- Add the rice, tofu (if using) and toasted sesame seeds (if using and if you did not start by toasting your own) and mix well, coating everything and heating everything through for another couple of minutes.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You want to add your veggies in the order of their hardness. Things like broccoli stems, carrots and celery should be added at the same time as your onion and garlic, where softer or pre-cooked veggies like bell pepper, corn or peas should be added at the end. For this recipe, I also prefer the mushrooms to retain some of their freshness and chewiness (I think it makes the overall texture of the fried rice better) so I tend to throw them in toward the end as well, rather than earlier like I normally would.
- Rinse your rice completely before cooking. Measure out 1 cup of rice, cover it in water and agitate it. The water will turn cloudy. Drain and repeat until the water runs clear. I also prefer to cook my rice in the morning or the day before so that I can refrigerate it and add it to my pan cold. I find this makes for better overall texture than adding it hot - but there isn't too much of a difference, so if you make everything all at once and put hot rice into the pan, that's okay too!
- I typically leave out the raw tofu when I'm making this and top with Crispy Tofu, or just go without tofu altogether. Keep in mind that it is a higher-fat food, so you want to add it sparingly as a topping (using maybe half the recipe of Crispy Tofu per batch of Fried Rice).
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