Easy Fried Rice Using Things in Your Fridge

(Prep - 10 mins, Cooking Time - 10 mins)

If, like me, you've got an eclectic mix of food in your fridge and no desire to think about a complicated meal right now, then this fried rice recipe is right up your street.

This is a recipe I make all the time when I've got bits and bobs in the fridge that need using up and it's safe to say, it comes out a little bit different, but delicious every time!

Gathering the Ingredients

So, for this recipe, you can really go to town and add almost any ingredients you have laying around. For reference, the recipe I used made enough for two people.

Peppers, beansprouts, mushrooms and spring onions all work really well, but the beauty of this rice is that you can include pretty much any meat or vegetables you have available.

Of couse, if you decide not to add the meat or egg you can also make a delicious vegetarian/vegan version of this meal that tastes just as good.

This time I used:

• Some left over king prawns

• A few flourets of broccili

• A pepper

• An egg

• Some ginger

• Some spring onions (to garnish)

There's one vital ingredient that brings this rice together, and that's a packet of microwave rice... that we won't be microwaving. I know, it's not conventional but let me explain!

The secret to a good fried rice is using rice that's dry and firm. To fry regular boiled rice, you have to wash it, cook it, and leave it in the fridge over night for it to firm up otherwise you end up with a starchy sticky mess. Quite frankly, I dont have time for that, and I'm sure you don't either, so this is a good way to skip the prep!

Step 1: Chopping

We're going to be cooking everything very quickly on a high heat, so you want to make sure that all the ingredients are cut up nice and small (preferably bite-sized). Slice the spring onions and set them aside for later.

Step 2: Sauce

This is another element of the dish that changes every time I make it. The base of the sauce is soy sauce, and if you're running a little low on supplies, you could even use soy sauce on its own, but I always like to spice it up a little bit.

However, this time I combined:

• Extra hot siracha (we like things hot in our house) - 2 tbsp

• Light soy sauce - 4 tbsp

• Honey - 1 tbsp

• Sweet chilli sauce - 2 tbsp

• Oyster sauce - 4 tbsp

I find that balancing the salty soy and oyster sauce with spicy siracha and sweet chilli and honey works really well, but feel free to add or omit these depending on your personal taste.

Step 3: Let's cook!

Start by heating a large frying pan on a medium/high heat and add a splash of oil. You want to let the pan warm through for at least 1 minute before you add any ingredients.

First, add your aromatics (ginger, garlic, fresh chilli) and let them become fragrant for 30 seconds.

The things that will take longest to cook go in first. In my case, the prawns were already pre-cooked so I fried off the veg for 2-3 minutes before adding them to the pan.

If you were adding raw meat or tofu, you'd want to fry these off for 2-3 minutes before adding your veg.

Next, move everything over to one side of the pan, add another splash of oil and tip the microwave rice straight into the pan.

Let the rice fry for 1-2 mins before mixing the whole lot together and moving it over to one side to make space for your egg, do you see why we needed a big frying pan now?

Crack your egg into the pan and use a fork or pair of chopsticks to scramble it. It will cook quickly so work fast! Once it's the texture of scrambled eggs (after roughly one minute), combine it with your rice mixture.

Once you're happy that everything is cooked through, tip your sauce mixture over and keep mixing for 1-2 minutes until the sauce has coated everything.

And that's it! Plate it up, I'm lucky to have these adorable ramen bowls with matching chopsticks and spoons for a real authentic touch, but a regular bowl works too.

Finally, add your garnishes. Here I used the sliced spring onions and a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes for extra heat, but coriander and sesame seeds are a delicious choice too.

Enjoy!

L x