Hapanese Cuisine

You know, if I have a picture of Better Than Takeout Fried Rice all over the place on a recipe blog, it might possibly make sense to post the recipe. 🙃

Fried rice was pretty common growing up—we’d always have that along with a variety of dishes whenever we had company over for dinner. It’s a quick, simple, versatile dish that connects to so many childhood memories for me.

This recipe is a little spin off of traditional takeout fried rice. Here, I use brown rice for the slightly nutty flavor and the extra health benefits. I also add in some fresh ginger to brighten everything up with its spicy-sweet flavor.

As a tip, make the rice the night before and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. It keeps the rice from getting sticky and mushy when you fry it. However, if you don’t have the time to cook the day before, cooking it on the same day can still work just fine. Just spread the fresh-cooked rice on a tray and let the surface moisture evaporate as it cools down to room temperature.

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Better Than Takeout Fried Rice

2 TBSP vegetable oil

1/2 onion, diced medium

1/2 cup carrots, diced medium

1/2 cup celery, diced medium

Pinch of salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP ginger, peeled and grated

2 eggs

2 cups brown rice, cooked and cooled

3 TBSP soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

Chopped green onion to garnish

In a large skillet or a wok, heat up the vegetable oil over medium-low heat. Add in the onion, carrots, celery, and salt; stir and cook until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 2 more minutes.

Turn up the heat to medium, then push the veggies to the sides of the pan to make a well in the middle. Whisk the eggs until well-blended, then pour into the middle of the pan. Let it sit for a few seconds, then stir occasionally to evenly cook the scrambled eggs.

Once eggs are cooked, add in the rice and soy sauce, and stir to combine. Stir and cook until hot, about 3-4 more minutes. Drizzle with the sesame oil before removing from the pan, then top with a few green onions just before serving.

This works great as a side; if you want to make this a main course, simply add 4 oz per person of your protein of choice. Thin-sliced chicken or beef would be delicious here, or even firm tofu.

Serves up to 4.