There was a whole two week span last month wherein I kept trying to make fried rice and kept failing. They key is in the preparation: rice must be cooked the day before in order to be used effectively in making fried rice and I just couldn’t manage to do that. Sad, I know. For some reason I’d always intend upon making the rice and then.. I wouldn’t. I’m not even sure I can tell you why other than the day/evening would get away from me? It’s a pretty paltry excuse but it’s all I have.

Finally, I remembered to cook some brown rice and then I let it cool and dry out so I could make fried rice the next day. Except I didn’t, because I think we ended up ordering take out. Oops. But the next night, I totally made fried rice and it was completely worth it.

Fried Rice

2 cups day old rice, white or brown [I prefer brown]
2 medium carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons oil, divided
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
handful of bean sprouts

Heat one tablespoon of oil in your wok or large skillet. Once the oil is shimmering, add the carrots and quickly saute. Remove the carrots, leaving as much oil as possible in the wok, and add in the eggs. Quickly scramble the eggs until mostly done, then remove from pan. Remove any egg residue from the pan and add in the remaining oil.

Once the remaining oil has been heated, add in your rice in one flat layer across the surface of the wok. Let it heat for about two minutes before turning it or attempting to stir it. After two minutes, stir and flip the rice over to fry the other side. Let this sit for another 1 – 2 minutes, then stir again. At this point, add in the soy sauce, carrots and peas to heat through. Next, add in the eggs and mix those thoroughly into the mixture. Finally, top with bean sprouts and remove from the pan.

The key to making this is to make sure the wok isn’t too crowded; if it is, you’re not frying things, you’re just really steaming them. Make sure all of your ingredients can touch the cooking surface at all times to ensure even cooking. This recipe is very much adaptable to whatever you have on hand in your kitchen: you can add in more vegetables, meat, take out the eggs – the options are endless.