Vegetable Fried Rice (Chinese Takeout Copycat)

Ingredients

Rice – Day-old rice is the key to making a bowl of good veg fried rice. When the rice is cold, the grains do not stick together, making the final dish fluffy with each grain separate. So, plan and make a batch of rice a day earlier.

Freshly made rice results in soggy, sticky rice, which we do not seek.

I like to make this dish using non-sticky medium-grain rice, such as Jasmine, basmati, or Indian Sona Masuri. However, any non-sticky white rice you have at hand works fine.

To make the dish healthier, you can replace white rice with brown rice, quinoa, couscous, or millet.

Vegetables add a nice crunch, color, and freshness, and this is a great recipe for using leftover vegetables from the refrigerator.

Use as many vegetables as you like.

I have added onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, and green onions. You can add other veggies like mushrooms, red bell peppers, green peas, green bell peppers, water chestnuts, bok choy, green beans, zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, snow peas, etc.

Make sure to cut the veggies in equal sizes. It looks pleasing to the eyes and also makes the cooking uniform.

Oil – You can use olive, avocado, canola, or any other oil with a high smoke point.

I added a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil at the end of cooking, adding a very traditional Asian flavor.

Others – You will need other ingredients such as fresh ginger, garlic, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, and ground black pepper.

Use regular white vinegar if rice vinegar is not available.

To make this dish gluten-free, replace the soy sauce with tamari. If you are watching your salt intake, use low-sodium soy sauce.

I have seen some people add some star anise powder to this rice. You can try that, too.

Pro Tips By Neha

Always use a day-old cold rice to make veg fried rice. It is a great way to use leftover rice.

To save time, you can use pre-cut vegetables, which are easily available these days in supermarkets.

Restaurants add Ajinomoto (MSG, Chinese salt) to their preparations, giving the dishes a lovely umami flavor. If you are not allergic to Ajinomoto, add a teaspoon to the sauces.

Make sure the veggies are at room temperature. If they are cold, they will release moisture and become soggy.

The choice of wok is very important. Use carbon steel or a cast iron wok, and always stir fry on the highest heat possible.

Be quick while stir-frying. Prepare all the ingredients and arrange them next to the stove.

Soy sauce is quite salty on its own. So be careful of the extra salt that you add.

You can double or triple the recipe. If scaling, I suggested stir-frying the rice in batches for the best flavor.