I love a good fried rice. Sure, I bet that “real fried” rice tastes nothing like what I’m eating at my local Chinese Restaurant, but who cares. It’s good. And it makes me happy. What doesn’t make me happy is that I haven’t tried any recipe at home that hits the spot. All the recipes were good, but not mind blowingly awesome. That taste of a good fried rice is hard to nail when you’re not using soy sauce, or msg. This recipe has neither of those, but tastes just as good. Instead of soy sauce, I used this coconut aminos. it’s made by fermenting the sap from coconut trees. It has a very similar flavor to soy sauce, but less salty.
They key is in the fish sauce. It might sound gross, but please don’t leave it out. If you do chose to leave it out, the rice will be fantastic, but you might miss out on that “restaurant worthy” part. It’s the secret ingredient. Don’t think, however, that more is better. If you add more, it will taste like yucky fish and not good rice at all. 1 teaspoon is all you need. This is the one I recommend.
Another key to fried rice, is oil. Don’t skimp on the oil. If you think you added enough, add a few globs more. The rice will soak it up and give you that wonderfully rich mouth feel that restaurant fried rice has. I used a very light flavored, organic EVOO.
Fried Rice is a great thing to add to your weekly meal plan. If you’re not meal planning, swat your hand, then head on over and download my F R E E tools to get started. You need chilled rice for this recipe. On your meal plan, one night make rice as a side dish and plan fried rice for the next night. Cook 1-2 cups more of rice and chill over night. It’ll be ready for you the next evening! Simple see? Simple. Problem solved.
One last thing, I doubled this recipe and froze half of it. I used to love the fried rice in the freezer section at Trader Joes, and this is a great way to “cook once, eat twice.” Just let it cool, and throw it in a freezer bag. When you need it, heat with a few globs of EVOO in your cast iron skillet, and you have a meal in 5 min.
Did I mention that this was soy-free, gluten-free, and msg-free? Well, it is. You’re welcome.
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Elizabeth Horn 