Easy Chinese veggie fried rice recipe?

[daisyd]

DS1 loves chinese fried rice and will reliably eat his veggies and finish his lunch when I pack leftovers from take out. I'd like to make this at home and I tried a couple of times but the end product was blah at best. Is there an easy but yummy recipe that you can share? DS and I thank you.

Mods please move to what's cookin if the post belongs there. TY

[lil_acorn]

Are you using day old rice. That always gives the best result. Fresh rice won't work well

[sandwish]

I pack fried rice a few times a week for my kids. It is the best way to get DC to eat veggies. I keep it simple. I only season with salt and aromatics.

To me fried rice is more a formula then recipe. I start with veggies, diced finely. Options include carrot, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, corn, peas, really any veggie I have. I either boil it, like carrots to soften or sauté it. Set aside.

Then meat, can be any kind, chicken, ham, ground beef, Chinese bbq pork, bacon, sausage. Diced. If I use bacon, I will keep the oil to fry the egg and rice, smells so good.

Then egg. Sauté green onion until fragrant then mix with egg to scramble.

When egg is done, add back in veggies and meat. And then add rice. I have used new or old rice, whatever is available . And mix all together and season to taste with salt.

I stopped making chow mein because my DS will just pick out noodles only. This way he will eat all of it. Even if you have leftovers like broccoli beef from a restaurant. Just chop it up, fry some egg and mix with rice. Also add the sauce from the leftover dish.

If salt only is too bland. You can also use oyster sauce to season. I don't use soy sauce ever for fried rice.

[daisyd]

Thanks for the ideas!

[csnoop]

If it's just for lunch, I would recommend buying the frozen fried rice at TJ. They are super easy to heat up in the morning. I stir fry them on a small pan and put it in the thermos. Takes about 5 mins or less. Both my kids like the Japanese style fried rice (has seaweed in it, surprisingly good, savory but a little bit sweet) and Chinese chicken fried rice.

For just making rice in general, I second the recommendations from PP. For seasoning, I do use soy sauce. I found a recipe that use 1 part soy sauce (like about 1/3 tablespoon) and 3 part fish sauce w/a little bit of sesame oil. It tastes really good w/o overwhelming the dish w/soy sauce flavor. Sometimes, I also use ketchup and a little bit of salt. Believe it or not, it's really yummy. Your fried rice would be orange colored. That's how I had it as a child.

For vegetables, I tend to just use frozen peas and carrots. It's easy and readily available. Plus, it adds a little bit of liquid to the rice w/o making it sticky.

CC

[Pepper]

I do similar things as the PP's, slightly different method and seasonings: I beat an egg or two with a tablespoon or so of miring, and cook that in the wok first - lots of heat and a good amount of oil to get the egg fluffy. Spread it out thin like a pancake, let it set and then flip it over to briefly cook the top side. Slide it onto a plte and slice it into ribbons or pieces.

For veggies i aim to have something green, something orange or red, something yellow. So sliced bok choy or cabbage or kale, collards, ext; diced carrot or red bell pepper; fresh or frozen corn kernels. Usually add some frozen peas too. Mung or soybean sprouts if I have them on hand. CHopped garlic. When veggies are done, slide them onto the plate with the egg.

Protein is usually Chinese sausage (pre-cooked in a steamer, then sliced), leftover chicken adobo, teriyaki, etc; whatever meat is in the fridge, even hotdogs. I cook it in a bit of oil to get the plan nice and hot, then add the (cold, leftover) rice. Stir-fry for a bit then add back the veggies and egg, and some sliced scallions or garlic chives if I have them.

Overall ratio of rice: veggies& protein is usually about 1:1. If there are lots of veggies and lower-salt protein (like roasted chicken or pork) I'll add a pinch of salt to the veggies.

For seasoning I use a sprinkle of fish sauce (1-2 tablespoons), another sprinkle of mirin, sometimes a teeny dash of sugar. I prefer fried rice without a lot of soy sauce, too. (I like the ketchup idea - kind of like omurice. I'll have to try that out!).

[pakin]

I really like this recipe: http://www.rd.com/food/katie-workman...d-rice-recipe/ I cut the carrots into tiny pieces to make sure they are cooked in a short time.

Pakin

DS 4/2001
DD 6/2005