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Soy Sauce Fried Rice (酱油炒饭)

Soy Sauce Fried Rice is a classic Chinese side dish. It’s slightly indulgent, bursting with flavor, takes just ten minutes to prep and cook, and is robust enough to serve as a main.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Course: Side
Cuisine: Chinese
Servings: 2 to3
Author: Maggie Zhu

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons bacon fat (or chicken fat, or other poultry fat) (*see footnote 1)
  • 2 eggs , beaten
  • 3 to 4 cups leftover rice
  • 3 green onions , chopped (*see footnote 2)
  • Sea salt to taste (*see footnote 3)

Instructions

  • Combine light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper in a small bowl. Mix well.
  • Add bacon fat into a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium heat until the fat is melted. Add eggs. Cook until the bottom is slightly set.
    Soy Sauce Fried Rice Cooking Process | omnivorescookbook.com
  • Soy Sauce Fried Rice Cooking Process | omnivorescookbook.com
  • Turn to high heat and add leftover rice onto the egg. Cook and chop the rice, to separate the grains and coat the rice with egg. Cook until the heat builds up and you can hear a vibrant sizzling.
    Soy Sauce Fried Rice Cooking Process | omnivorescookbook.com
  • Swirl in the soy sauce mixture. Cook and stir constantly, until the rice turns an even color.
  • Add green onion, stir to mix well.
    Soy Sauce Fried Rice Cooking Process | omnivorescookbook.com
  • Carefully taste the rice. Season lightly with sea salt if necessary. Stir and mix thoroughly, so the salt is evenly dispersed.
  • If you like crispy and charred rice, you can turn off the heat and let the rice sit in the skillet for a minute or two. Be careful - the rice should be thoroughly cooked but not burnt.
    Soy Sauce Fried Rice Cooking Process | omnivorescookbook.com
  • Transfer the rice to a bowl and serve it as a side. Always serve the rice hot, or at least warm, to get the best flavor.

Notes

  1. Using animal fat is very important in this recipe. Because the the recipe is very simple, using a flavorful oil will add tons of flavor to the rice. If you don’t like the idea of using animal fat, you should at least use a high quality peanut oil, plus more eggs.
  2. Because the dish uses very few ingredients and tons of soy sauce, it will leave a raw taste of soy sauce in your mouth if you don’t use enough herbs to balance it. You should add at least 3 green onions, if not more.
  3. As I suggested in the post, this dish is qualified to serve a main. Sometimes we cook it for lunch, and serve a very simple veggie dish alongside it. In this case, you want the dish to be salty enough to taste good. You can achieve this by adding a bit more soy sauce, but you also need to add a bit more green onion to balance it. Or you can add a bit of salt. To make the dish look more appetizing and darker in color, you can gently add more dark soy sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 226g, Calories: 773kcal, Carbohydrates: 151.6g, Protein: 14.5g, Fat: 10.3g, Saturated Fat: 1.9g, Sodium: 914mg, Potassium: 290mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 2.2g, Vitamin A: 150IU, Vitamin C: 4.1mg, Calcium: 70mg, Iron: 8.5mg