When I cook rice (or anything pasta, noodles etc), I always like to cook extra for another day. There is a lot of, how do I put it, controversy (too strong a word but it’ll do for now) surrounding reheating rice. All I can do is share my opinion and experience. I think a lot of us are over cautious, and will blindly throw stuff out because we are told to do so. Whatever you do, employ common sense. I do not want to hear of trips to A& E, or days locked in the bathroom to recover from food poisoning. Whatever you do, don’t get all litigious on me – you’ll be sorely disappointed – I am virtually worthless ;o)
Egg Fried Rice comes in many guises. It is a great thing for using up slightly tired ingredients (not so tired that legs have grown legs and and rogue food items have managed to escape the fridge on their own), and can taste really good. For me, this is a real comfort food. It is hard not to make it better than what the takeaway has to offer (greasy, MSG-y – you know the gig). Equally, it is not as bad for you as the name may sound (unless it is entirely deep-fried).
My chicken and prawn egg fried rice recipe will not win awards for presentation (as the above clearly depicts), and I’d struggle to find a way to make it look like something designed vs. thrown together. There is not much frying going on either as just two tablespoons of groundnut oil is enough for a meal big enough to serve 4 hungry soul. Not too shabby. Each time I make it, I alternate ingredients and have never had it the same. I always double the quantities and devour the rest a couple of days later. I am also making no claim to authenticity – is it really Chinese, or influenced by Asian flavours in general? Finally, what I love about this style of cooking is that all the prep can be done in advance, as cooking time is really rapid. Line up all the prepared ingredients in the order that you will need them.
Chicken and Prawn Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 x eggs beaten with 1 x tsp of sesame oil
- 1 large chicken breast thinly sliced
- 2 x garlic cloves grated
- 2 x tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 x tbsp saké
- 1 x good squidge of light honey
- I x dollop of chilli sauce
- 2 x tbsp groundnut oil
- 125 g of frozen cooked prawns defrosted
- 4 x spring onions finely chopped
- 1 x red chilli thinly sliced at an angle
- 1 x red bell pepper finely cubed
- 1 x cup frozen peas defrosted
- 1 x large carrot julienned
- 2 x large cups of chilled cooked rice I have used brown basmati, white basmati, jasmine rice, long grain rice - all work just fine
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine a tbsp of soy sauce, saké, honey, chilli sauce and grated garlic. Mix thoroughly and add the sliced chicken breast. Cover in cling film, and leave to absorb the flavour for as long as you can (within reason ;o) - 1 hour + is a good length of time).
- Whop out your wok, and get it hot (I use a medium high heat on my induction hob - 6/10). Add 1 x tbsp of groundnut oil.
- Add the beaten egg, and swirl it around the base of the wok so that it is very thin. Give it a few seconds (it takes very little time at all) and flip it over to cook the reverse size. Remove the thin omelette and set aside for later. Once cooled, chop it up into thin strands or small cubes.
- Add the chicken breast, chopped chilli and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Then, add the spring onion, carrot, diced red pepper and red onion, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the ingredients start to brown through. Add the prawns and peas and cook for one minute, make sure all the ingredients are mixed through, and remove from wok, put in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Add the final tbsp of groundnut oil to the wok, and add the rice. Press the rice down and cook so that it is lightly browned on one side (but not cremated!) Turn the rice over and brown the other side.
- Add the final tbsp of soy sauce, and stir-fry until warmed through and return all other ingredients - including the egg - to the wok. Mix through thoroughly, and keep stir-frying for a final 2-3 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve up (if you can make it look better than a pile of stuff on a plate, you are doing a lot better than me), dig in, and devour.
- Relish the fact that you have beaten death again by successfully reheating rice ;o)
Cat
I’m so stoked to have found this website. This recipe was great…really accessible with simple, fresh, realistic ingredients written in a really nice way. The presentation and lay out of the website is fabulous and the touches of humour are so refreshing and true. Thank you for your time and effort, I’ll be using you again!!
Dear Cat
many thanks indeed for your very kind words – I am glad you enjoyed it. When the day job allows (not very often- clearly!), I hope to have an alternative variation published – this time a bit more zesty and dare I say it ‘less meaty’. ;o)
Loved this recipe. So many reciepes I want to try. This one will definitely become a fortnightly staple. I did a few swaps to cater for what I had available… Had 300 g fresh tiger prawns that needed using which was a yummy addition and also added some stong colour. Had chicken thigh fillets in freezer so used them. Swapped chilli flakes for sweet chilli sauce,…and not a lover of honey, so used a splash of sweet soy. I probably overdid the quantities of the marinade, so not wanting to waste, poured the left overs in at the end…browed rice up nicely..
Hi Sandra, I really like the look of your version. I would never have thought to use chicken thighs, and tiger prawns sound great. Love the idea of tipping marinade back in at the end. Thanks again for your feedback..very much appreciated.
I’ve made this three times now and it’s such a winner. My partner is a head chef and he says I’ve upped my game. The frying of the rice until crispy makes such a difference and I feel so stupid for not knowing to do that.
I used king prawns and chicken breast but I’d chuck anything in it because the brilliance lies in the frying rice and the great marinade.
To make it look a bit more fancy I sprinkle crispy shallots on top and drizzle a little siracha.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Thea,
Thank you so much indeed for your kind works. This still remains one of my favourites… and as you say, the beauty is that you can chuck almost anything at it.
One of my new iterations involves fresh pineapple and prawns or chicken- with lots of lime and coriander… I have to get this on the blog when time permits.
I love the idea of your extras too!
Richard!
I lost the page for this recipe and have been trying to find it for over a month haha! Found it again today and saw your message, thanks so much.
We’re having it for dinner tonight and I have some fresh raw prawns to throw in too.
Hope all is great with you.
PS A tablespoon of kimchi on the side is proving very popular with this one too.
Thea
Absolutely amazing it was full of flavour . Thankyou can’t wait to try more off your recipes
Hi Sam. Thank you for your feedback . We always have some leftover rice in the fridge and probably make a variation of this once a week. We pretty much add whatever is lying around…I do hope you get to try other recipes too.?