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Easy Fried Rice

by:
January 26, 2011
5
1 Ratings
  • Prep time 20 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

I love a good fried rice. Bad fried rice is heavy, soggy, sticky and drowned in soy sauce. My mother in law makes great fried rice. She showed me, many years ago, how to do it the right way. There aren't any fancy ingredients here, and all of them are either easy to find or already in your refrigerator and pantry. Feel free to use whatever veggies you like, and/or subsitute small peeled and deveined shrimp for the ham. —mrslarkin

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Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoons oil (I use olive oil)
  • 4 large eggs
  • salt to taste
  • 2 large scallions, sliced, plus extra for garnish
  • 1/2 cup diced boiled ham (I get a slice from the deli, 1/2 inch thick)
  • 5 cups leftover, cold, cooked rice (I use brown basmati)
  • kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
  • sesame oil to taste
  • soy sauce (optional)
Directions
  1. In a large non-stick saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Beat eggs with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon water, and scramble. Break up the eggs into small pieces. Remove and set aside.
  2. Heat remaining oil to medium heat. Add scallions and cook until fragrant, but not mushy.
  3. Add diced ham and cook until heated through.
  4. While scallions and ham are cooking, break up the rice. Add rice to scallions and ham. Stir until rice is heated.
  5. Add the peas and stir until heated through.
  6. Stir in the scrambled egg pieces.
  7. Season the fried rice with salt to taste.
  8. Lightly drizzle sesame oil over, to taste. Stir.
  9. Serve hot, garnished with sliced scallions, passing the soy sauce separately.
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39 Reviews

Write a Review
daysaloo@sbcglobal.net December 17, 2014
Making this for my office potluck. You saved me!
fiveandspice May 31, 2012
Yum. This looks crazy good!
mrslarkin May 31, 2012
Thank you, 5&s!
happycao March 20, 2011
ham fried rice ..mmmm...
in chinese culture, the best thing for fried rice is the high heat for a short time
TiggyBee February 13, 2011
This was outrageously good! I made it last night after arriving home from a trip with virtually no food in the house but miraculously these few things!! Thanks mrsL! : )
mrslarkin February 14, 2011
You are so welcome, TiggyBee!! I'm very glad you liked it!
asiegel February 11, 2011
Wrong. Don't make the eggs first and set aside. Instead, once you've stir-fried the rice, make a well in the center of the wok, pour in the eggs, and when they start to solidify, incorporate gradually with the rice. And where are the garlic and ginger? They're essential.
mrslarkin February 11, 2011
Wow that sounds great! You should submit your version! There are many iterations of fried rice; this happens to be mine.
MyCommunalTable February 11, 2011
One reason I liked this version was because my son is allergic to eggs, so I can make it in a way that can make us both happy.
Savorykitchen February 12, 2011
I'll echo Mrslarkin, aseigel, submit your recipe so we can enjoy it.

Mrslarkin - I like the egginess of this dish . It looks filling enough to serve as a main course for lunch.
lastnightsdinner February 12, 2011
One of the great things about cooking is that there are really no "right" or "wrong" ways of doing things. There are as many ways to make a dish as there are cooks to make it, and that's what's so great about this community - I feel like I learn something new from each recipe posted, and I'm sure others do, too. I'll echo my friends here and encourage you to post your recipe - we'd love to see it.
thirschfeld February 12, 2011
What I like about both ideas is you can get two different end results. asiegel yours would be much closer related to carbonara where the eggs and rice become incorporated and take on a creamy texture and is more custardy while mrslarkins recipe allows for the egg to stand on its own which is every bit as good, not wrong. It sort of depends on you personal preference. While my preferences would have me leaning towards mrslarkins you can bet you ass I wouldn't push away a bowl of fried rice as you have described your recipe. So yeah, please post a recipe and share. Non of this drive by crap where you drop an idea on us and then bail out.
dymnyno February 12, 2011
I am a big fan of fried rice and I have always made it the method that asiegel decribes, even though I think Mrslarkin's version also sounds delicious. I wonder if since asiegel is new to this site that we don't know her/his "voice". Should not jump to conclusions about the way someone voices their opinion, just as "drive by crap" sounds a little contentious too.
thirschfeld February 12, 2011
dymnyno it wasn't meant to be contentious but point well taken and duly noted
dymnyno February 12, 2011
Tom, I knew that...that was my point.
Blissful B. February 14, 2011
Oh, it was a drive by. Asiegel left 4 derogatory comments on 4 fried rice recipes at once. His constructive criticism included the words: wrong, ridiculous & I don't think so. New to the website or not, his/her voice is clearly disrespectful.
CuisineBateau February 10, 2011
This recipe is excellent! I have made this twice now and we are hooked. This will be a regular here at the bateau! Merci beaucoup!
mrslarkin February 10, 2011
That's so great, CuisineBateau!! De rien! (I hope I said that right!) I am thrilled that you enjoy this recipe. It's one of my favorites, too! Thank you so much for letting me know!
healthierkitchen February 1, 2011
Made this for dinner last night - great success! Everyone loved it.
mrslarkin February 1, 2011
yay! Glad to hear that hk! Hey what was that Chinese veggie called that you said you bought for it??
healthierkitchen February 1, 2011
Baby guylian. It's also called Chinese broccoli and these were little ones. I just did it on the side - steamed them and made a sauce with garlic, dash of oyster sauce and a little chicken stock.
Lizthechef January 29, 2011
My mom always made her fried rice with bacon - so does her daughter. This is my idea of comfort food - glorious photo too, Liz!
mrslarkin January 29, 2011
Thanks Liz! Definitely comfort food!
healthierkitchen January 29, 2011
not so much snow in DC but no power! Just got back on line. This looks great! I make mine with kim chi.
mrslarkin January 29, 2011
Thanks hk! This is one crazy winter! Would love to see your recipe with kim chi!
healthierkitchen January 30, 2011
your recipe with ham will come in handy this week as I have loads of defrosted leftover ham now! That seemed to be the only thing that thawed while power was out. My kimchi version is on my blog, which I think links from my profile.
gingerroot January 27, 2011
YUM! Fried rice is a Hawaii staple, yours looks delish.
mrslarkin January 27, 2011
Thanks!! I did not know that! Do you ever make it? I would love to see your recipe for fried rice, gingerroot!!
gingerroot January 27, 2011
You can find it everywhere - from the farmer's market to breakfast/lunch places and even sometimes it pops up the menus of high end Pacific Rim/Fusion restaurants. My Mom's is the best. Someday I will take the time to learn her secrets! She uses oyster sauce and Portuguese sausage (another ubiquitous Hawaii ingredient) but otherwise her recipe is similar to yours.
gingerroot January 27, 2011
My visual editing skills are really bad today! I meant to say "sometimes it pops up on the menus of..."
mrslarkin January 27, 2011
interesting...do you mean like chorizo?? I never thought to use that in fried rice! I've got some in the freezer! Thanks for the inspiration! I'll have to try oyster sauce too - is it fishy?
gingerroot January 28, 2011
Portuguese (linguica) is a little different than chorizo...more meaty chunks and a bit milder. However, chorizo would make a tasty fried rice too. Definitely cook separately though and allow to drain on paper towels before adding to rice mixture. A little oyster sauce goes a long way - adding flavor but not fishy flavor. My mom does not measure how much she adds - maybe start with a tablespoon or two and combine, then add to taste.
MyCommunalTable January 26, 2011
I am so making this for dinner tomorrow night. I have rice in the fridge. My son is allergic to eggs, but the way you make it, I can leave it out of his and use the egg in mine. We both love peas and ham anything in this house. Thanks.
mrslarkin January 27, 2011
You're welcome! Hope you guys like it!! Let me know how it turns out.
drbabs January 26, 2011
Did you have this for dinner tonight? How much snow do you have? we have about 6 inches with another 8-10 expected.
mrslarkin January 26, 2011
Yes, ma'am! This WAS dinner! My family begrudgingly ate the peas, too. I had to make it pretty for the picture! :-) Yep, we got about 3-4 inches today. I wonder how much snow we've had since Christmas? Heaps of it, I guess.
drbabs January 26, 2011
We've had heaps, too. We're running out of places to put it.
thirschfeld January 26, 2011
I love those little bits of ham in my fried rice.
mrslarkin January 26, 2011
Yup. Come to think of it, some nice chunks of pork belly might be real good too, should you have some hanging around. #charcutepalooza