Eggs and rice
Twenty-Minute Egg Fried Rice
This works because the rice is already cooked and cold. Fresh rice from the pot is wet and it clumps. Cold rice from last night fries into separate grains. Eggs and a vegetable make it dinner.
Prep: 5 minutesCook: 15 minutesServes: 3Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 3 cups cold cooked rice
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 small carrot, diced small, or 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon mild vinegar, or a squeeze of lemon
- Salt, only if the soy sauce does not salt it enough
- Optional: 2 sliced green onions
Instructions
- If the rice is in clumps, break them up with your fingers or a spoon. Have the eggs cracked into a bowl and lightly beaten. Have the vegetables and garlic next to the pan. This cooks fast.
- Warm 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Pour in the eggs. Scramble them just until set, then slide them onto a plate.
- Add the rest of the oil. Cook the carrot, or the frozen vegetables, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for half a minute.
- Add the rice. Spread it out and let it sit 30 seconds so some grains toast, then toss. Keep tossing for about 3 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce and the eggs. Break the eggs into pieces as you toss. Add the vinegar. Taste. Add a pinch of salt only if it needs it.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the green onions if you have them. Eat it from bowls.
Substitutions
- Carrot: peas, leftover broccoli, or a handful of spinach added at the end.
- Soy sauce: salt, added carefully, plus the vinegar so it is not only salty.
- Eggs: a drained can of tuna, flaked in at the end, if you are out of eggs. It becomes a different dinner, still fine.
Storage
Refrigerate leftovers within a couple of hours, covered, for up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot pan. Do not leave cooked rice at room temperature for the afternoon.