Skillet Asian Fried Rice
A quick skillet fried rice recipe for those occasions you don't want to bring out the wok.
Kitchen Tapestry has abundant Asian fried rice recipes like, Korean Style Fried Rice, Forbidden Fried Rice, and Chinese Style Fried Rice.
But on this occasion, I was in the mood for a quick, easy, fried rice recipe and didn't want to rig up my carbon steel, Szechwan-style wok to make it, and I didn't want any leftovers. I threw this together based on what I had on hand.
This dish would lend itself to infinite variations and additions, even with added proteins, like chicken, beef or shrimp, for a complete meal. The ease of making this dish comes from using a prepared rice product and a skillet.
Ben’s Original Ready Rice
For the former, we always have some Ben's Ready Rice on hand. It's about two cups of rice that has been par-cooked and comes in a microwavable pouch that completes the cooking process, a step you can omit for this recipe. For the latter, any 12" non-stick skillet will do.
Incidentally, if you've been living under a rock the past few years, Ben's used to be known as Uncle Ben's, but somehow that was racist and Mars Incorporated, who owns the brand, got woke and changed the name. Check out the Mars website and you'll note they spend more time presenting their social mission than they do about presenting their food products. Mars also owns an Australian product line of foods and spices called Masterfoods. Somehow, the word "master" isn't as racist a word as "uncle" and so Masterfoods' name apparently slipped through the woke racist snare and didn't get changed.
But I digress.
You still have to do some minor chopping and dicing with this recipe, and just like if you were cooking in a wok, you want everything ready and standing by at arms' reach to bring the dish together quickly over high heat. Incidentally, you can make this a complete entree with the addition of leftover diced pork roast, steak, grilled chicken or even ground beef.
Skillet Asian Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 8.5-oz pouch of par-cooked white rice (like, Ben's Basmati Ready Rice)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/2 small shallot, very finely minced
- 1/2 cup baby carrots, thinly sliced
- 1/2 4-oz jar diced pimentos, drained (like, Dromedary, Cento or Goya)
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce (like, Kikkoman Less Sodium)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (like, Panda)
- 2 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar (like, Marukan Seasoned Gourmet)
- 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed in the microwave (do not use canned)
- 2-3 green onions, sliced on the bias
- 3-4 tbsp peanut oil
Instructions
- If you're short on time or have poor kitchen knifing skills, you can chop your shallot and carrots in a small food processor. You want the shallots very finely minced, but not liquefied.
- Mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce and rice wine vinegar together, stir to combine and set aside.
- Over medium high heat in a large skillet, bring the oil to shimmering, then put in the carrots and shallots. Stir frequently until the shallots begin to caramelize, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the pimentos and garlic, and cook another minute or so being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Add the rice and the combined sauces and vinegar, and stir constantly as the mixture comes together and the rice heats through, another 3-4 minutes.
- Push all the rice mixture to one side of the skillet, and pour in the beaten egg on the other side. Stir constantly until the egg scrambles and is fully cooked, then blend everything in the skillet together.
- Toss in the thawed green peas and cook another minute or so.
- Toss the green onions in at the last minute and serve.
