Aish Cooks

It’s hard to believe I still haven’t posted the recipe for my all time favorite egg fried rice – every single person who’s tasted this has wanted the recipe right away and I kept thinking it would take me no time to get it on the blog. Well, I was wrong. The best things about this dish also turned out to be the very reasons I have found it so hard to make a blog post out of it: its super simple, gets done in a flash and is extremely yummy. Now that’s precisely why we end up making it the most when we’re starved at the end of a hustled day or quickly toss it up with the previous day’s left overs for a late Sunday lunch – in any case, it is simply not the time to be clicking pictures! So that’s why this post has been in draft-mode forever.

I found it hard to measure up the ingredients for this recipe as it really does not have a very specific way to it – if you’ve got some leftover rice, eggs and any other sauces to add some spice and flavor to the dish, you are good to go. While there are so many ways to dress it up an egg fried rice recipe, the essence of this recipe is in keeping it absolutely simple. So contrary to the usual, resist the temptation to over complicate this fuss-free dish and give it a try as-is – you’ll see how appealing left over rice begins to be after this!

PS: I’ve never participated in any photography events to date, but wanted to give the Black and White Wednesday hosted this week by Aparna of MyDiverseKitchen a shot. This is my entry to the 78th episode of the Black and White Wednesday event that is administered by Cinzia and created by Susan of the wellseasonedcook.

Egg Fried Rice

Cooking Time: 10 minutes (when using left-over rice) | Makes: just over 2 cups fried rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups cooked long-grained white rice (I use basmati, see notes below for tips on making fluffy rice that is perfect for fried rice recipes)
2. 4 eggs
3. 1 tbsp garlic, minced
4. salt to taste
5. pepper to taste
6. 3-4 tbsp soy sauce, adjust to taste
7. 1-2 tbsp chili garlic sauce or just chili sauce, adjust to taste
8. 2-3 tbsp olive oil (or any other cooking oil of choice)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide/heavy bottom saute pan.
2. Add the minced garlic and saute for a few seconds on med-high.
3. Break open the eggs into the pan and stir them continously to break them up and scramble the eggs.
4. Add the salt, pepper and the cooked rice and toss everything together for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the soy sauce and chili sauce and stir fry the mixture to combine well for another minute or two.
6. Turn off the heat and serve steaming hot!

Notes:

1. While I usually end up using refrigerated left over basmati rice for this recipe, sometimes we make a fresh batch of rice to make this too. Adding a small spoon of oil and a bit of salt helps in getting fluffy rice that does not stick together and is perfect for tossed rice recipes.
2. Chopped green scallions or other finely chopped vegetables go very well with this dish.