Recently, on a Sabbath afternoon, my sister and I went to a friend’s house to have lunch. When we arrived, our friend asked me if I knew how to cook fried rice and I said, “Yes.” In the back of my mind I was thinking, “In fact, it was the only thing I knew how to cook when I was a kid. So, call me an expert!”

I gave her a couple of pointers on how to cook it. While she was talking to my sister, I wasn’t paying attention to her cooking or to anything at all for that matter. I mean, I just woke up. It didn’t even phase me when she cracked open the eggs and put them in the skillet.

Then, my sister asked her, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making fried rice.”
“Allan, You didn’t tell her about the eggs?!”

It was then that I finally realize what just occurred. While the rice was in the pan, she put in the eggs. I felt (and I still feel) quite bad about the whole incident. Because of my mistake for oversight, I will reveal how to cook fried rice correctly.

Equipment

• Wok or Skillet

Ingredients

• Oil to grease the pan
• 1 Egg
• 2-3 cups of cooked rice (White Long Grain or Jasmine Rice Preferable)
• 1 Minced Garlic
• 1/4 of a Chopped Onion
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vegetables (Optional) – Some people like to just use frozen cut up vegetables with the basic corn, cubed carrots, and peas. But really, with fried rice, you can put anything. There could be mushrooms, cabbage, celery, etc. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this. Just note that if you use frozen mixed vegetables, please exclude the lima beans and green beans. Beans and legumes just do not belong in fried rice.
• Meat (Optional) – Often, people use ground beef or spam (the meat, not the junk mail). Again this is something to experiment with.

Like many recipes, fried rice is not exact. There are many different variations and this is just a base recipe. I suggest that you cook a batch with just one egg to see if it turns out all right.

1. Grease the pan
2. If using meat, sauté until brown and cooked (sorry, I’m a vegetarian so I don’t know!)
3. Sauté the garlic until it browns
4. Sauté the onions until it turns semi-transparent and brown
5. Beat the eggs with two pinches of salt and pepper
6. Move the garlic and onions out of the way to a cooler side of the pan
7. Pour the entire beaten egg mixture into the pan. Scramble the eggs immediately. Continue to scramble and keep the egg from conglomerating into big pieces. You want it to be as loose and as small as uncooked rice. Keep on cooking them until they brown. It is okay to mix the eggs, onions, and garlic together.
8. If using vegetables, add them to the mixture in the pan. Cooking times will vary depending on which vegetables and forms are used. For example, frozen corn will be faster then raw corn. Again, brown the vegetables.
9. Add the rice and “scramble” it until is separated and without clumps. Some like it to glisten with oil. Add two tablespoons of oil if desired for this effect.

Basically, every time you add another ingredient, you want it loose, dry, grainy, browned, and crisp. In the end, it should not be mushy or clumping.

I hope this will be a helpful guide when cooking fried rice. Just please remember that eggs go before the rice! Feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments via the comment form at the bottom of this page!

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