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Plants Not Plastic

Take-Out Style Fried Rice

This fried rice is starchy, filling and flavorful all without using any oil. It's got that great, restaurant-style texture where each kernel of rice separates from one another, and it's low fat, vegan-friendly, and gluten free! Perfect by itself or paired with Crispy Tofu as a topping.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 4.5 cups
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Calories: 206.4
Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

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

Equipment

  • large non stick sauce or sauté pan

Method
 

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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].
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Remove from the heat and garnish with green onion and/or sriracha sauce, or even top with Crispy Tofu [note#3]
    Crispy Tofu
  8. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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).
Best eaten fresh, but stores in the fridge for up to a week.