Fried Rice (Caau2 Faan6, 炒飯)

Fried rice (caau² faan⁶, 炒飯) is one of my favorite dishes to make and one of the first dishes I ever learned to cook. It’s Chinese comfort food. Fried rice is the ultimate leftover dish because leftover rice and other leftover ingredients are used. For this version, I added homemade hickory smoked bacon and Chinese broccoli (gai³ lan⁴, 芥蘭) to this easy to prepare dish, but you can add any ingredient that’s available. Other fried rice ingredient variations are pictured at the end. Oyster sauce (hou⁴ jau⁴, 蠔油) completes the dish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 to 1½ cups leftover rice (faan⁶, 飯)

1 tsp. (or to taste) White Pepper (baak⁶ wu⁴ ziu¹, 白胡椒)

2 Eggs (gai¹ daan⁶, 雞蛋)

6-8 ozs. Homemade Hickory Smoked Bacon (see notes)

2-3 stalks Chinese Broccoli (gai³ lan⁴, 芥蘭) cut into ¼ inch pieces

2 stalks Green Onions (cung¹, 蔥) cut into ¼ inch pieces

2 Tbs. Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce (hou⁴ jau⁴, 蠔油) (see notes)

Oil for cooking

Preparation Instructions

1. Take the eggs out of the refrigerator.
2. Take the leftover rice out of the refrigerator, break up any clumps, and set aside. Ideally you want to have each rice grain separated.
3. Add the white pepper to the rice.
4. Cut the homemade bacon into ¼ inch wide strips or cubes (any meat can be used) and set aside.
5. Cut the Chinese broccoli into ¼ inch pieces and set aside.
6. Cut the green onion into ¼ inch pieces and set aside.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat the wok or pan over high heat before adding oil.
2. Stir fry the bacon until brown.
3. Break the eggs and scramble with the bacon in the wok.
4. Add the Chinese broccoli pieces to the wok and stir fry with the other ingredients.
5. Add the rice and green onion pieces to the wok and stir fry with the other ingredients. You might have to add more oil.
6. Add the oyster sauce to the wok and combine the ingredients.
7. Put the cooked ingredients into a dish and serve immediately.

Notes

1. Any meat can be used in fired rice. I happen to have some homemade hickory smoked bacon. Since I used a meatier pork belly (as opposed to a fatty cut) to make the bacon, there’s a lot less fat than regular store-bought bacon.
2. I use Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce because it’s the brand I grew up with and has a good flavor. It’s a little more expensive than other brands, but it’s worth the price in my opinion. I once had a weak moment and bought an inexpensive brand of oyster sauce, and was disappointed in the flavor when compared to the Lee Kum Kee Premium brand. So get the good stuff!

Other Variants


Salmon Skin and Inferno Pepper

Chipotle Salsa Turkey & Cabbage





Grilled Saffron Chicken