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Cast Iron Fried Rice

Cast Iron

Cast Iron Fried Rice

I make a lot of rice.  Brown rice, white rice, sushi rice, arborio rice, basmati rice, black rice…I have yet to meet a rice I haven’t liked. 😉  As a consequence of making so much rice, I tend to have a lot of leftover rice, which comes in very handy for making fried rice.   As with most things I cook, this recipe is more just a suggested guide than a set of hard-and-fast rules, since it is made mainly from leftover rice (and sometimes meat) and whatever vegetables I have in the house.  For example,  I don’t really like egg in fried rice, but many people do (I don’t know why I have this egg issue; I will eat it if it is in fried rice that someone else made, but  I just don’t like adding it to fried rice I make.)  If you like eggs, go crazy and add as many as you want.   The version pictured below is made with just rice and veggies:

Cast Iron Fried Rice
Print Recipe

Cast Iron Fried Rice

Ingredients

  • Vegetable or Olive Oil, plus a little drizzle of Sesame Oil (sesame oil adds a lot of flavor, so use sparingly)
  • 2 Cups Cold Rice
  • Chopped Onions and Garlic
  • Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
  • Chinese 5 Spice Powder
  • Chopped Vegetables of Choice, I used carrots, mushrooms, celery, and cilantro because I had them on hand

Instructions

  • Add 2-3 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil to cast iron pan, plus a drizzle of sesame oil, and slowly heat.
  • When oil is heated, add onions and garlic and cook until onions start to turn translucent.
  • Add rice and stir well, making sure oil and onions are mixed through.
  • Let the rice fry for a few minutes before stirring. Repeat as needed. (If you want your rice very crispy, you can repeat this process until desired crispiness is achieved.)
  • Drizzle rice with liquid aminos or soy sauce and stir.
  • Add 5 Spice Powder to taste and stir.
  • Begin to add vegetables, with the slowest-cooking ones first. (I added the carrots and let them cook for a moment before adding the mushrooms, and then the celery, and finally added the cilantro at the end.)
  • If needed, add more 5 Spice Powder to taste and stir.
  • Cook another moment longer, then remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!

About T

Greetings! I am one of the West Coast representatives of Cast Iron and Wine, originally from PA, but residing in beautiful Southern California for more than a decade. I am a life-long adventurous eater and cooking enthusiast, and I am fortunate to be located close to a number of farmers' markets, specialty markets, and ethnic grocery stores, where I can almost always find something new (to me!) to try. Cooking and creating in the kitchen make me ridiculously happy, and while my creations might not always be a raging success, I always have fun!

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