EASY 20-Minute Fried Rice Recipe - I Heart Naptime (2024)

FAQs

How to make rice for fried rice the same day? ›

After briefly resting the pot on the counter with a dish towel under the lid (to absorb excess moisture), spread the rice on a baking sheet to help it cool more rapidly to room temperature, and pop the sheet in the fridge for just 20 minutes. The resulting fried rice will be ideally dry and the clumps of rice minimal.

Replacing the water with vegetable broth and chopped garlic is a great way to add a savory touch to your rice. And, vegetable broth will enhance the natural flavors of any added vegetables in a stir fry recipe with rice or fried rice dish.

You can also use day-old brown rice, however it will create a less-authentic taste and texture, even though it's still delicious. Sesame oil. I do not recommend omitting or substituting the sesame oil in this recipe. It is key to the authentic flavor of this dish.

Allow the pot to sit on the warm hotplate for 10 minutes to allow the steam to continue cooking the rice. Use a fork to fluff the rice grains and transfer to a large baking tray. Place the rice, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (overnight is best though) before using for fried rice.

Use equal amounts of rice and water. BOIL water. ADD rice, stir, cover & remove from heat. WAIT 5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed, then fluff.

No, you do not have to rinse Minute Rice®.

One tip is to never fry with cold rice right out of the fridge – be sure to take the overnight rice out of the fridge beforehand and warm it up briefly in the microwave. It should be barely warm or at least room temperature when you start cooking, otherwise it won't be able to absorb the flavours from frying.

Signature flavor

There are many ways to do this, like using olive oil, canola oil or even butter to fry your rice for a great base. To give your dish that signature fried rice taste, you'll need to drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, but feel free to use as much or as little as you wish.

Cooking bits of chopped vegetables, seasoning, soy sauce, and oil, seems easy enough. However, when making fried rice at home, there's one ingredient you may be overlooking: Sugar.

Why do you use refrigerated rice for fried rice? ›

Unlike freshly cooked rice, which forms soft, mushy clumps when stir-fried, chilled leftover white rice undergoes a process called retrogradation, in which the starch molecules form crystalline structures that make the grains firm enough to withstand the second round of cooking.

The Best Rice for Fried Rice

Long grain rice has less starch which makes it the perfect choice for fried rice. Using a long grain rice like jasmine rice will result is soft and fluffy rice every time! Other rice varieties like short grain sushi rice would not work for fried rice.

Homemade Fried Rice Ingredients:

Cooked, chilled rice: Any kind of white or brown rice will do. Just be sure that it is cooked (I always cook mine in this rice cooker, which works like a charm) and thoroughly chilled (in a sealed container in the refrigerator) before adding it to your hot skillet.

Let the rice stand for one to two hours until it's cooled to room temperature. Resting and cooling your rice allows excess moisture to evaporate, which also helps keep grains from clumping. If you want to do this a day or two ahead, let the rice cool completely, then refrigerate it in an airtight container.

Let cool: Spread cooked rice onto a rimmed baking sheet and let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. (Spreading the rice on a baking sheet helps it cool more rapidly to room temperature.) Transfer the sheet to the refrigerator and let the rice chill for 20 minutes.

The NHS recommends keeping your rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating, while the US Department of Agriculture's FoodKeeper app says you can store cooked rice for four to six days.

- Freshly cooked rice is hot, steamy, very moist and a little sticky ? this will make your fried rice clumpy and soggy. - Day-old rice is dryer and will give your fried rice a good texture and will bring out the individual flavours of the other ingredients.