Family style fried rice

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As I have mentioned before, Americanized Chinese food is totally nostalgic for me, as we ate at the same restaurant every Sunday (and sometimes weekdays) for about 20 years of my life, so I ate many incarnations of fried rice. Then when I started working with the crew at Tona we would have “family meal” at the end of our shifts.

This changed me, we ate communally, using chopsticks with proper etiquette. Chef Tony would prepare us something delicious and fresh using extra food from their family farm or extras from specials or the bits of fish that weren’t going to go on to be sushi or entrees. The rice was made fresh every shift, so twice a day, if there was rice leftover we would have the most amazing and varied incarnations of fried rice. Since that time, it’s been a decade, I make fried rice once a week usually. I am just going to give you a template to make your own, with what you have. My family loves this and it is a great way to serve a one pan meal and suit everyone’s taste, it is a great dish for creativity and a great dish for someone new to cooking. I have done it plant based, meat filled, and even with pineapple!
Makes 4 ample servings.
You will need:
4 cups of cooked rice, leftover is best, but I make rice all the time for this purpose. For the one pictured I used calrose, which is similar to the delicious short grained rice we ate at Tona.
3 eggs whipped and made into an omelette, I try to do the Japanese Tamago style, which is thin and then rolled together and cut, but scrambled are great, you can sub crumbled medium tofu as well.
1 cup chopped protein, I used char siu style pork.
1/2 cup frozen peas, or other green veg you like, we use shelled edamame sometimes.
1 carrot, diced, I used some farm fresh carrots so I didn’t even have to peel mine, sub red bell pepper if you like
1 cup mung bean sprouts, optional, I usually only use these in this version.
5 green onions, the white part used to stir fry, the green tops added at the end.
2-3 T butter
2 T veggie oil
3 T soy sauce
optionals:
A few cloves minced garlic, ginger, chili oil, sambal, oyster sauce, sriracha, sesame seeds, sesame oil, vinegar, etc.
Using a your biggest skillet or ideally a wok, heat to medium high heat, add veg oil and toss white parts of onions, garlic if you are using it, carrots, protein, rice, add butter, soy and other seasonings you want to use. Toss the rice, add sprouts, some of the rice will be crispy, this is a good thing! Stir fry for 5 to 10 minutes. Add peas, egg or tofu, sesame seeds, and green parts of onions. Serve! I topped ours with oyster sauce and sriracha, but you can season as per your own preference. This is a go-to recipe for me and is a fraction of the cost of take-out!