Author Notes
Although most Filipinos ate this for breakfast, it was dinner for us, and we groaningly called it "Tomorrow Must Be Payday Rice." Our freezer always contained many packets of leftover rice wrapped in foil, which is one of the secrets of this dish: fried rice can be "gluey" when made with fresh, hot rice. Our Filipino mother also saved bacon grease in a coffee can, which is another flavor secret of this dish, but I rarely use it because I rarely cook bacon; if you have it, by all means, substitute it freely. - betteirene
—betteirene
Test Kitchen Notes
This is a quick and easy "dirt cheap" dish to make using staples you most likely already have in your pantry and fridge. The garlic-infused rice is tasty and betteirene's technique of using cold rice and coating the grains with oil first was terrific and resulted in fried rice that did not get mushy. Stirring the soft egg yolk into the rice is delicious and my family all loved the crispy egg edges. We ate it for dinner, but I can see that it would make a good savory breakfast, as well. - BlueKaleRoad —BlueKaleRoad
Ingredients
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6 cups
cold cooked rice
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4-6 tablespoons
vegetable or canola oil or bacon grease
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2
cloves garlic, minced or pressed
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1-2 cups
frozen blend of peas and carrots (optional)
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2 teaspoons
table salt
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1/2 teaspoon
pepper
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4-8
eggs (1 or 2 per person, as desired)
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1
green onion, sliced (optional)
Directions
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Place cold rice in a large non-stick skillet or wok, breaking up any clumps with your fingers. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of the oil over the rice and stir to coat the grains evenly. Add the garlic, vegetables, salt and pepper, then place the skillet over high heat and saute, stirring frequently until rice is heated through; turn heat down to medium high if garlic begins to brown before the rice is hot. Spoon rice from skillet into serving bowls.
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Add a tablespoon or two of oil to skillet if necessary, and set the heat to high. Crack four eggs into the skillet and allow them to fry until the bottoms are somewhat crispy and medium golden and the whites are cooked through. Place one or two eggs on top of each serving of rice and sprinkle with green onion slices to garnish. (Cook no more than four eggs at a time so that the skillet isn't crowded; the eggs should be sunny-side up but with crispy bottoms, not steamed. If you can't bring yourself to eat eggs this way, you can cook them any way you like.)
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