How to Prepare Vegetable Fried Rice
Gather your ingredients and cooking equipment. You’ll need chopped fresh vegetables (whatever you have on hand will work), long-grain white rice, canola oil, eggs, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste, as well as any other ingredients you like in your fried rice. While cooking equipment-wise, all you need is a large frying pan and a spatula or two. If you have some leftover cooked chicken or beef to mix in, that would be great too!
Measure your vegetables
Most vegetables come pre-cut, which means there’s no need to measure those. But if you’re working with fresh vegetables like broccoli or peppers, take a moment to measure them so you have a sense of how much you need for your recipe. Depending on what type of rice and veggies you use, it can be easy to make too much food—which is especially true for fried rice. Don’t underestimate portion sizes!
Be sure you’re cooking your vegetables until they’re soft and tender. The residual heat after you remove them from the heat will continue to cook them a bit more and ensure they’re nice and soft. If you don’t stir-fry vegetables enough, they can come out hard and chewy, which is never appealing. When stir-frying vegetables, be sure to slice them into thin pieces, so that they get cooked quickly (this also helps distribute their flavor).
Add the egg
While cooked rice can be used in vegetable fried rice, some people like a firmer texture for their fried rice. Instead of adding uncooked or leftover rice, you can add an egg. This will create a firmer texture and help bind all of your ingredients together. Since eggs are also high in protein, they make a great addition to vegetarian meals that might otherwise be lacking. In many cases, especially when making fried rice at home rather than ordering it out, you should be able to substitute one egg for three-quarters of a cup of cooked white or brown rice.
You’ll want to buy fresh veggies and cook them yourself instead of using frozen or canned vegetables. Frozen vegetables are easy, but some nutrients can be lost in transit, especially if you leave them sitting around for a long time. (Canned veggies might seem like a good alternative, but they can be loaded with sodium.) As for those bags of pre-cut stir-fry vegetables that show up in your produce section: Skip ‘em! They tend to be full of more sodium and sugar than your everyday veggies and they aren’t as nutritious anyway. Instead, pick up some carrots, cabbage, snap peas, bell peppers and onions at your grocery store. You should also have packages of low-sodium soy sauce handy too.
If you choose tofu instead of meat for your stir-fry, be sure that it is well drained and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. To add a little extra flavor to my vegetarian dish, I like to fry my tofu with a bit of sesame oil, salt and pepper. This can also be done with tempeh or seitan. Be careful not to over cook any kind of meat substitute; they will break down if they get too hot in your wok! Once my tofu is golden brown and crispy I'll drain it on paper towels before adding it back into my rice.
Return your veggies to the pan
This is a crucial step in cooking vegetable fried rice. You want your veggies and meat (if you're using it) to be steaming hot before adding your rice. Bringing all of these ingredients back together will create steam and ensure that every grain of rice absorbs each flavor. The rice will also soak up any left-over juices from your meat, so make sure to cook it thoroughly before beginning step two. This is a crucial step in cooking vegetable fried rice. You want your veggies and meat (if you're using it) to be steaming hot before adding your rice. Bringing all of these ingredients back together will create steam and ensure that every grain of rice absorbs each flavor.
The most important thing about preparing vegetable fried rice is cooking your rice properly. The best type of rice for fried rice is long-grain white rice. Brown and wild rices are too chewy, and it's important to keep in mind that when cooking your vegetable fried rice that you want your grains of cooked white rice to be separate from one another instead of clumped together. To get nice individual grains, you're going to have start by washing and draining your long-grain white rice.
Throw it all together
When you’re in a rush and only have frozen vegetables on hand, it can be tempting to just toss them into a wok and hope for the best. In reality, though, frying up rice doesn’t take much effort. If you don’t have time for all that chopping of fresh veggies—which is entirely understandable—this simple preparation will get your rice from freezer to table in a flash. First, set a pot of water on high heat (don’t forget a pinch of salt). Then chop one onion into small pieces and throw it into your wok with 1 tbsp of cooking oil or butter.
Serve and enjoy!
Whether you prefer veggies or meats, fried rice is a great way to use up leftovers and clean out your fridge. While fried rice traditionally calls for leftover Chinese takeout, there’s nothing wrong with using store-bought eggs, cabbage, and soy sauce if that’s what you have lying around. As long as you keep your vegetable fried rice preparation simple—and don’t overthink it!—you can make all sorts of variations that are quick and easy, vegetarian or not. Here are a few tips: -Choose whatever veggies you have on hand : Choosing fresh vegetables is always preferable but if time is tight go ahead and use frozen mixed vegetables for your veggie fried rice instead.
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