chinese food/dinner/fried rice/recipes/Vegetarian Recipes

Ginger Fried Rice Recipe

Posted April 24, 2012 by Stephanie

Fried rice is one of those dishes where preferences are very individualized (much like how well-done you like your instant noodles). Peas, no peas, soy sauce, no soy sauce, scrabbled egg bits or egg mixed right in, and the list goes on. My mom’s fried rice – aside from the protein – always has peas, diced onions, and scrabbled egg bits. She never seasons it with soy sauce. There are a ton of variations out there, but one thing remains consistent across all good fried rice recipes: using old rice.

Old rice is a must. Using freshly made rice usually ends in disaster – it’s just too moist. If you’re in a hurry, you can make rice, cool it off and put it in the fridge, uncovered. The fridge will usually dry out the rice enough for a decent fry-up.

Even Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s slightly French-ified ginger fried rice recipe calls for day old jasmine rice. Jean-Georges fried rice is vegetarian, which isn’t too common for typical home-style Chinese fried rices, but you won’t miss the meat in this dish. The ingredients are fried up separately, which is a traditional Chinese technique. Cooking the ingredients separately is key in making fried rice as cooking times vary for individual ingredients.

In Jean-Georges’ fried rice, ginger and garlic are crisped up and then removed from the wok. Leeks are  browned and fried up with the rice. The slight-sweetness of the softened leeks and the crispiness of the garlic and ginger make this fried rice incredibly moreish. Top it off with a sunny side up egg and you have a winner on your hands!

i am garlicky, i am gingery: i am ginger fried rice!

Ginger Fried Rice Recipe from nytimes.com
serves 2

  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • Salt
  • 1 cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried
  • 2 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce

In a wok or large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly.

Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season lightly with salt.

Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side-up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.

Divide rice among two dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and enjoy hot.

11 Comments

  1. Lynna H. says:

    omg, i LOVE ginger rice. never occurred to me to make fried rice our of it so some reason… BUT I`LL DEFINITELY TRY IT. looks DELICIOUS.

  2. Cheoy Lee says:

    Looks delicious and your photograph is stunning.

  3. Rachael says:

    Oh, you’re killing me! I just looked at the wontons and now this.. yikes. I wonder what’s in store for me next??

  4. vic@cakebook says:

    oooh LOVE ginger fried rice… kinda like hainan chicken rice.. without the chicken… haha…

  5. Renee says:

    SO YUMMY!!!

  6. Adjoa says:

    Y’all need to install a ‘Share’ button. This stuff will be my new staple, my hands are so down.

  7. sophie says:

    made this for dinner recently. it kicked ass. thanks for the recipe — your photos got me to do it, though!

  8. leah says:

    YUM! this is hands down the best fried rice i’ve ever had. and I made it, thanks to you! just one thing though: shouldn’t you only heat 1/8 cup of oil at first, for the garlic and ginger? and then use the other 1/8 for the leeks and the eggs? i used all of the 1/4 cup at first, as written, and then wondered what to use later and figured it out when i went to the nytimes link.
    but the sweetness of the leeks and the crunch of the garlic and ginger does indeed make this dish a real winner. thank you!

  9. Stefanie says:

    I just made this & my hubby loved it! Only thing is, I used chives instead of leeks & i didn’t take out the garlic & ginger- i mixed the rice with garlic & ginger into the pan while they were yellowish & fragrant, but not browned. And I also stir inthe sesame oil into the pan. The other thing, i used bacon lard instead of canola oil. Yummyyyy! Will be back for more of your recipes!

  10. Lysandra says:

    I’ve never put ginger in my fried rice… always a ton of garlic instead. Something new to try next time! Your pictures are amazing!

  11. kashish food says:

    I LOVE ginger rice………….

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