This egg fried rice is quicker than waiting for a takeaway: 15 minutes, one pan and a bowl of cold cooked rice, either last night's or a ready cooked pouch. The rice fries hot with garlic, spring onions and red pepper, a little beaten egg coats the grains, and a thin omelette folded on top puts soft egg in every spoonful.
Why this works
Rice that has been cooked and chilled dries out on the surface, so the grains fry and separate instead of turning to mush. Ready cooked pouches work for the same reason: the rice inside is firm and dry.
The egg goes in twice. Most of it becomes a thin omelette, folded over the top in soft pleats. The rest is poured over the hot rice and tossed until it clings to the grains in a golden coat.
Key ingredients
- Cold cooked rice. Long grain or jasmine, cooked the day before and kept in the fridge, or two pouches of ready cooked rice.
- Eggs. Beat them well, with a pinch of salt, so the omelette sets in an even, thin layer.
- Spring onions. The white ends go in early for flavour; the green tops go on at the end for freshness.
- Soy sauce. Use the ordinary light kind. Dark soy turns the rice brown and tastes stronger.
Amounts for 1 to 6 people are in the recipe card below, in grams or cups.
Method
- 01
Get everything ready
Fried rice cooks fast, so prepare it all first. Rub the cold rice between your fingers until no clumps are left. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, finely chop the garlic and dice the red pepper small.
- 02
Snip the spring onions
Snip the spring onions with the herb scissors into a bowl, keeping the white and pale green slices apart from the dark green tops.
- 03
Make the omelette
Heat half the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Pour in most of the egg, swirl it into a thin layer and leave it for about a minute until nearly set. Fold it over on itself in loose pleats, slide it onto a board and cut it into wide pieces.
- 04
Fry the aromatics
Add the rest of the oil to the pan. Stir fry the spring onion whites, garlic and red pepper for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pepper softens at the edges.
- 05
Fry the rice
Tip in the rice and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes, pressing out any clumps with the back of the spatula, until it's steaming hot all the way through and starting to pop. Pour the rest of the egg over the rice and toss for 1 minute so it coats the grains.
- 06
Season and serve
Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper and toss again. Spoon into bowls, lay the omelette pieces on top and scatter over the spring onion greens, sliced chilli and sesame seeds.
What to serve it with
It's a meal on its own, or the side for air fryer salt and pepper chicken or a beef and broccoli stir fry on a fakeaway night.
Storing and reheating
- Fridge
- Cool within an hour, cover and eat within 1 day.
- Freezer
- Best skipped. Rice is safest eaten within a day of cooking.
- Reheat
- Once only, until steaming hot all the way through. If you used rice cooked the day before, frying it was its one reheat, so don't heat it again.
Questions
It's soft and wet, so it clumps and turns sticky in the pan. If it's all you have, spread it on a plate for 10 minutes so the surface dries, then fry it.
Yes, and there's no need to microwave them first. Squeeze each pouch to break the rice up, then tip it straight into the hot pan.
Only if the rice was freshly cooked, or from a pouch, when you fried it: cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than a day and reheat it once until steaming hot. Rice cooked the day before has already had its one reheat in the pan.
Usually the rice was too wet, the pan wasn't hot enough or it was too full. Use cold rice, your largest pan on full heat, and keep the soy sauce to a splash.
Recipe
Egg fried rice in 15 minutes
Cold cooked rice fried hot with garlic, spring onions and red pepper, topped with a soft folded omelette. One pan, 15 minutes. By Tom Reid.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Method
- 01Fried rice cooks fast, so prepare it all first. Rub the cold rice between your fingers until no clumps are left. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, finely chop the garlic and dice the red pepper small.
- 02Snip the spring onions with the herb scissors into a bowl, keeping the white and pale green slices apart from the dark green tops.
- 03Heat half the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Pour in most of the egg, swirl it into a thin layer and leave it for about a minute until nearly set. Fold it over on itself in loose pleats, slide it onto a board and cut it into wide pieces.
- 04Add the rest of the oil to the pan. Stir fry the spring onion whites, garlic and red pepper for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pepper softens at the edges.
- 05Tip in the rice and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes, pressing out any clumps with the back of the spatula, until it's steaming hot all the way through and starting to pop. Pour the rest of the egg over the rice and toss for 1 minute so it coats the grains.
- 06Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper and toss again. Spoon into bowls, lay the omelette pieces on top and scatter over the spring onion greens, sliced chilli and sesame seeds.
