Vegetable Fried Rice

Name: Vegetable Fried Rice (Chao Fan) Recipe
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Rice 1 cup (180 g); Water 1½ cups (for cooking the rice) (300 ml); Carrot 1; Parsnip 1; Garlic 2 cloves; Vegetable oil 50 ml; Light soy sauce 2-3 tbsp; Chili pods, Sichuan pepper to taste; Ground black pepper or hot red pepper optional

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60 mins

For all the variety of rice dishes around the world, most people seem convinced that any dish made of rice and meat is pilaf. And it is very hard to talk them out of it. I remember how we tried, without success, to convince one man that Valencian paella is not just an “ordinary” pilaf.

Besides pilaf, the world knows many outstanding rice dishes. In Valencia, there is a dish of saffron-tinted rice with plenty of seafood, called paella. Italian risotto is nothing like pilaf in texture and can be made with many additions.

Turkish pilav with nuts and offal is a surprising combination. Incidentally, I read somewhere that the word pilaf may have come into modern languages from Sanskrit and roughly means “boiled rice.” Whether that is true or not, the technique for pilaf and most rice dishes is cooking in absorbed liquid.

In the USA, so-called “fried rice” with all sorts of additions is a very common fast food: vegetables, seafood, or meat such as fried pork or chicken. Of course, you cannot fry dry rice, since dry rice is almost entirely starch and needs water to cook. So it is cooked rice that gets fried. This kind of “rice” is not a traditional East Asian dish.

Chao fan (炒飯), or fried rice, is a base or component for other dishes and is served at the end of a meal. It is easy to make, and as a rule it uses rice left over from a previous meal.

The most common way to make fried rice is to fry already cooked grains with a little water and spices. Sometimes the rice is cooked in plain water, without spices or salt. Sometimes all the spices go straight into the cooking water. Often the dish is made from cooked and chilled rice (this is essential), and in no other way.

Rice for frying can also be made from dry rice, which is acceptable. The process is somewhat similar to making risotto and pilaf. The rice is fried in oil first, and only then is liquid added. Other ingredients can also go in at any stage, and you can even make a risotto with onions.

It is remarkable how simply frying cooked rice can turn bland white grains into a superb side dish that can also be a meal on its own. In the simplest version, all you need is rice, spices, and oil. Or you can make it with vegetables, meat, or practically anything else.

Ingredients

2 servings

Rice 1 cup (180 g)
Water 1½ cups (for cooking the rice) (300 ml)
Carrot 1
Parsnip 1
Garlic 2 cloves
Vegetable oil 50 ml
Light soy sauce 2-3 tbsp
Chili pods, Sichuan pepper to taste
Ground black pepper or hot red pepper optional

Step-by-step recipe

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How to prepare the rice

For frying, use a non-sticky rice that stays fluffy. Sticky varieties such as jasmine, Krasnodar, or Italian risotto rice will not work, because they turn into porridge. Basmati is ideal: a long-grain rice with a wonderful aroma, moderately fluffy and easy to cook.

Cook the rice and let it cool. Rinse the rice first to remove the rice flour left after polishing. Then cook it in water without salt or spices over low heat, covered, until the water is absorbed. The ratio is about 1:1.5. The traditional advice is 1:2, but basmati needs a little less liquid. Stir the cooked rice and leave it to cool. Ideally, cook the rice ahead of time, and then the dish takes even less time to make.

How to prepare the vegetables and spices

Prepare the fresh roots and spices. You will need carrot and parsnip. You can also add celery root or even parsley root, as you like.
Peel the roots and cut them into even cubes, not too small.
Prepare the spices you have chosen in advance. I recommend adding a few dried chili pods to the rice, if you like. They will not make the dish particularly hot, but they will improve the flavor of the rice. If you have no Sichuan pepper, a few black and allspice peppercorns will do nicely.

How to fry the vegetables

A wok, the Chinese round-bottomed cast iron pan, is best for frying rice, but an ordinary sauté pan will do just fine.

Flavor the oil with garlic. Heat vegetable oil, sunflower or corn, in the pan and fry peeled, crushed garlic cloves in it. Frying takes 2-3 minutes, and the garlic should flavor the oil. After frying, discard the garlic.
You can fry the peppercorns together with the garlic, although many believe that spices should not be fried. Perhaps, but let’s not complicate things. You can fry the pepper in the oil briefly to get an aromatic oil for frying the vegetables and rice, or you can fry the peppercorns directly with the vegetables.
Fry the roots until soft. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the cut roots and dried chili pods to the flavored oil. Fry the vegetables, stirring vigorously with a wooden spatula.
The vegetables should be fried until they are easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Ideally, the fried vegetables will have started to brown slightly.

How to fry the rice

Add the rice. As soon as the vegetables are fried, add the cooled cooked rice to the pan and stir. If you like, season with extra ground black pepper or hot red pepper. A mildly spicy dish like this is really something!
Fry the rice with the vegetables, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, and add the soy sauce. The rice should fry, not steam. Do not cover the pan with a lid. After 4-5 minutes of frying, when the rice is hot, add the soy sauce. Use 1-2 tbsp of soy sauce.
We do not salt the rice: soy sauce is salty enough, and there should not be much of it in the dish, or it will be too salty. Use a good-quality, naturally fermented sauce. It costs more than “quick-brewed” soy sauce, but it is worth it. If the soy sauce is too dark, it will color the rice intensely and turn it brown. It is better to use light varieties.
Fry the rice for 10 minutes, until the grains start to separate and almost no more steam is produced. The rice should be loose and not stick in clumps. Free moisture should be minimal. The grains should only be coated with a film of oil.

Serving

Serve the rice with vegetables as a side dish for meat or chicken. It also works very well as a vegetarian main. In a large group outdoors, you can make this rice over a campfire, and you can cook the rice for frying at home beforehand, so the cooking takes little time.

Calories and macros

615 kcal

Serving ≈ 390 g

Protein9 g6% of kcal
Fat24 g37% of kcal
Carbs84 g57% of kcal

100 g158 kcalProtein 2.4 gFat 6.2 gCarbs 21.6 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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