In Thailand, Fried Rice is a good lunch dish, served
with cucumber and a wedge of lime. The most popular fried
rice is crab fried rice. But for me, fried rice is a good
way to clean the refrigerator since most any vegetables
and meats you have in your fridge will do. For meats, I
use everything - bacon, canned crab, ham, tofu hot dogs -
your name it. Any vegetables will do too. Have fun!
Thai fried rice gets much of its unique flavor from the
mix of fish sauce, soy sauce, chili peppers and lime. |
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3 |
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tablespoon |
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vegetable oil |
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Tips
and substitutions
Making great fried rice requires a number of
tricks:
- A wok - it is the best tool for fried rice.
If you don't, it can be tricky but still
manageable.
- High heat - you want your pan as hot as
possible. That's why it frequently tastes so
much better at a restaurant.
- Dry rice - Making your rice a little drier
than normal or using day-old rice keeps the
rice from clumping together and turning into
wok-concrete.
- Ground black or white pepper and lime -
You'll be surprised how much flavor the ground
pepper and lime can bring to fried rice. |
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1 |
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tomato, thinly
sliced |
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2 |
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teaspoons |
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soy
sauce - mushroom |
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pinch |
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ground
pepper |
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1 |
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teaspoons |
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fish
sauce |
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1 |
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cup |
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cooked
rice |
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3 |
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Thai
chili pepper |
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Optional |
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1/3 |
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cup |
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pork |
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Optional |
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1/2 |
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onion, chopped |
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Optional |
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1 |
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lime |
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Optional |
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1 |
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green
onion |
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Optional |
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2 |
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cloves |
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garlic,
minced |
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Optional |
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2 |
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eggs |
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Optional |
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When the pan is extremely hot (smoking hot), pour in the oil
and follow with meat. Stir quickly. It can get real smoky. If
you see that there is juice coming out from your meat and
pooling on the bottom and not evaporating, your pan is not hot
enough. When the meat is cooked, set it aside or just put it
on the side of the pan if you can. Add the egg and scramble
the egg until the egg is all cooked. Put the egg aside or just
push it aside and make some room on the bottom of the wok. Add
the fish sauce and soy sauce and stir. Keep stirring and
mixing the rice with ingredients. Add all vegetables. Stir for
1 or 2 more minutes. Sprinkle ground pepper.
Some people like to add a fried egg on top of the fried rice.
If you do, add 2 teaspoons of oil, crack the egg and fry until
the egg white is crispy. Put the egg on top of fried rice.
Serve hot with a 1/4 wedge of lime and whole green onion.
Learn more about this and other similarly prepared Fried
Rice (Kow Pud) recipes