All the great ways you can make fried rice in one video… but is one better than the other?

3 Minute Fried Rice

• 2x 7.4 ounce (420g) packs Nishiki pre-cooked steamed white rice

• 1-2 tablespoons (15g-30g) vegetable oil

• 1-2 large eggs

• ½ cup (70g) frozen peas and carrots

• 1 ½ tablespoon (20g) soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons (8g) Sriracha

• 2 teaspoons (8g) garlic powder

• ½ teaspoon (2g) MSG

• Salt and pepper to taste

• ½ bunch green onions, thinly sliced optional

1. Heat a large wok over high heat. Once hot, add your vegetable to the pan and swirl to coat the wok.

2. Once the oil is nearly smoking, add eggs into the wok, and immediately season with salt. Use chopsticks, or a spatula to break up the egg as they cook. Once the egg begins to set, add frozen vegetables to the wok. Stir fry until vegetables are hot, about 1 minute.

3. Break up pre-cooked rice and add to the wok, toss and stir the rice until hot and fully broken up. 

4. Add the MSG, Sriracha, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Toss and stir fry until everything is hot and thoroughly combined. Transfer to a plate, and optionally garnish with thinly sliced green onion.

3 Hour Fried Rice

Rice:

• 2 cups (340g) medium grain rice

• 2 cups (480ml) water

Chashu Pork Belly:

• 2 pounds (900g) pork belly, skin removed, cut into ¾ inch cubes

• 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 shallot, peeled and halved

• 1/2 bunch green onions, cut into 2-inch (5cm) segments

• 1/2 cup (120ml) sake

• 1/2 cup (120ml) water 

• 1/2 cup (120ml) soy sauce 

• 1/2 cup (120ml) mirin

• 2 tablespoons (30g) granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon (15g) neutral-tasting oil

Fried Shallots:

• 3 shallots, thinly sliced

• 2 quarts (1.9L) vegetable oil

Assembly:

• 3 cups (600g) of your cooked rice

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 large eggs

• 1 shallot, finely diced

• ½ bunch green onion, thinly sliced, use the whites for cooking and greens for garnish

• 2 tablespoons (30g) sweet soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons (30g) soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons (30g) vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon (4g) ground white pepper

• 1 teaspoon (4g) MSG

• 1 teaspoon (4g) sesame oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Oil for high heat Cooking

The Rice: 

1. Wash rice thoroughly by covering with water, mixing by hand until the water turns cloudy, dumping the cloudy water and then repeating those steps until the water is clear. This should take about 2-3 washes. 

2. Place the washed rice into a rice cooker and add equal parts water. Once the rice is cooked, add cooked rice to a lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

The Chashu Pork Belly:

1. While the rice is cooking, make your chashu. Cut pork belly into ¾ inch cubes. Heat oil in a 5-6 quart pot and sear the diced pork on all sides in the hot oil, about 1-2 minutes per side. Once seared, remove the pork belly from the pan and place onto a wire rack lined baking tray to drain. Return the pot to medium heat. 

2. To make the chashu braising liquid, add to your pot green onion, shallot, ginger, sugar, sake, water, mirin, and soy sauce. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil and add the pork belly back to the pan. Reduce the heat to low and allow the liquid to come to a light simmer before covering with a lid and braising for 2 hours. 

Fried Shallots:

1. To make the fried shallots, slice shallots about an ⅛ of an inch thick on a mandolin. Add thinly sliced shallots to a medium sized pot filled halfway with vegetable oil. Heat over medium high heat, continuously stirring until the bubbling has subsided and the shallots have turned golden brown in color.  Transfer to a paper towel lined baking tray using a spider and immediately season with salt. 

Fried Rice Assembly:

1. Set a wok over high heat. Once extremely hot add a generous amount of vegetable oil (about 2-3 tablespoons) and once heated, add shallot and the white parts of the green onion.  Stir fry until beginning to turn translucent, about 30 seconds.

2. Crack two eggs into the pan and immediately season with salt. Scramble the eggs in the pan, and once cooked, add the cooked, chilled rice. Break up the rice and toss to combine. Then add the ground white pepper and MSG and toss to combine. 

3. Next add soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet soy sauce, half of the remaining green onion (leaving just a bit for garnishing at the end), and finely chopped garlic. Toss to combine. Adjust seasoning to taste.

4. Transfer cooked rice into serving bowls, serve each bowl topped with chashu pork belly, green onion for garnish, and a handful of fried shallots. 

3 Day Fried Rice

Rice:

• 2 cups (340g) medium grain rice

• 2 cups (480ml) water

72 Hour Short Rib:

• 2 pounds (900g) bone-in short rib

• ½ cup (60g) kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons (30g) black peppercorns

• 2 tablespoons (30g) Szechuan peppercorns

• 4 star anise

• Sweet soy sauce for glazing (optional)

Lacto Chile Sauce:

• 6 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 quart water

• 30g kosher salt

• ½ pound (225g) red Fresno chile

• ½ pound (225g) red jalapeno pepper

• 1 tablespoon (15g) nam prik pao, or chile jam (optional)

• Water for loosening sauce in blender

• ⅛ teaspoon xanthan gum, for consistency

Fried Rice Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon (15g) shrimp paste

• 3 ½ tablespoons (32g) mushroom soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon (15g) sweet soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon (4g) sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon (15g) lacto chile sauce 

Assembly:

• 4 cups (800g) cooked rice, refrigerated overnight 

• 1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced, with whites separated from greens

• 1 shallot, finely diced

• 2 large eggs, beaten

• Trim from short rib (optional)

• Pinch white pepper

• 2 teaspoons (8g) MSG

• Fried Rice Sauce 

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Short Rib:

1. To a blender add star anise, black peppercorn, and Szechuan peppercorn, blend on high speed until it turns to a fine dust. Combine the spice powder with kosher salt and mix until thoroughly combined.  

2. Season short ribs with the spice mixture on a baking tray. Ensuring the short ribs are completely and evenly covered in the spice mix. Once seasoned, add the short ribs to a vacuum seal bag and vacuum seal. Drop into a sous vide set at 69°C for 72 hours.

3. Remove from sous vide bath and chill in an ice bath until cold, leave in the fridge until ready to use. This will last in the fridge for up to 5 days before use.  

Lacto Chili Sauce:

1. Remove the tops and halve the red Fresno peppers and red jalapeno peppers. Once the peppers are cut, whisk 30g of salt into a quart of water until the salt is completely dissolved. 

2. Add crushed garlic and peppers to a quart sized mason jar. Add water to the jar until the peppers are completely submerged in brine. Cover with a lid and ferment for 3 days. 

3. After 3 days, strain the brine from the fermenting peppers, and add the solids to a blender with nam prik pao or chili jam. Blend on low.  Add a splash of water until the puree begins to vortex in the blender. 

4. Blend on high until as smooth as possible. Optionally add a pinch of xanthan gum for smoothness.  

5. Season to taste with salt if needed, then pour sauce into a squirt bottle. 

Fried Rice Assembly:

1. In a small bowl add shrimp paste, mushroom soy, sweet soy, sesame oil, and fermented pepper sauce. Whisk to combine and reserve for later. 

2. Remove chilled short rib or ribs (depending on what kind of short ribs you’re using) from the vacuum bag and remove the meat from the bone. Season with salt to taste.  Add the meat and bone to a medium sized non-stick pan set over medium high heat, allow the protein to come up to temperature with the pan. Once it begins to sear, allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes or until a browned crust has formed on the short rib.  Repeat on each side of the short rib until evenly browned on all sides and the short rib is heated all the way through. Repeat this process with all ribs.  Once cooked, optionally glaze with sweet soy sauce. Lower heat and keep the short rib and bone warm until time to serve.

3. Heat wok over high heat, once hot, add vegetable oil to the pan, plus optionally add any trimmings from short rib if you have any.

4. Once the fat has rendered from the short rib, add beaten egg to the pan and season to taste with salt. Stir fry to break up the curd, and once the egg is cooked transfer from the pan to a plate. 

5. Add more vegetable oil to the pan to coat and once hot, add shallot and the whites of green onion to the pan. Season with salt and stir fry until soft. 

6. Once the vegetables are cooked, add broken up rice, more vegetable oil around the outside of the rice, and stir fry until combined. 

7. Add ground white pepper and MSG, toss to combine, then add the egg back into the pan and toss again.  Next, add the fried rice sauce (the shrimp paste, mushroom soy mixture from earlier) and toss to combine until hot.

8. Cut off the heat, and add finely chopped garlic to the pan and toss lightly, optionally you can also add greens from green onion.

9. Transfer your fried rice to serving plates or bowls. Place your short rib or ribs atop the rice. Optionally you can gently slice your short rib meat into ½ inch thick slices before plating and place the slices on top of the bone, then garnish the sliced meat with green onion.