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.

Butter: I prefer butter (or ghee) to oil in my fried rice - just think the flavor is a little better! Substitute: Olive oil, or any other kind of oil (peanut oil, grapeseed oil, etc.), will totally work. I don't recommend using sesame oil to cook the dish - reserve that for the end.

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.

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. You can even mix in things like garlic powder, ginger root, or Sriracha sauce and chili pepper for a bit of a kick.

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.

Fried rice syndrome is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus cereus, which is present in these types of starchy foods prior to cooking. Bacillus cereus is a heat-resistant bacteria, so even recooking foods that have not been appropriately refrigerated can result in food poisoning.

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.

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.

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.