Chicken Fried Rice

I love Chinese food, I would even consider it to be comfort food. Well, I’m a foodie, all food is comfort food. There’s just something special about ordering a pint of whatever from the local Chinese take out with a fortune cookie for desert. My taste in Chinese food is pretty simple, usually on the menu as house fried rice. Little bit of everything mixed up with some fried rice and seasoned with teriyaki. This post is about chicken fried rice, quick, easy and really good. Just don’t have chop sticks or those foldable card containers with the pictures in the side.

The secret to any Chinese fried rice dish is the consistency of the ingredients when cooked. The rice can’t be a stuck together in a glob, each grain has to be separate. The key is to use rice cooked the day before and kept in the fridge overnight. A fridge acts a dehumidifier, so the rice gets a chance to dry out a bit. And won’t stick together when tossed in oil. Also, by cooking everything separately and then mixing all the precooked ingredients together at the end. Traditionally, this would be done in a wok, over high heat. Well, I don’t have a wok or the right type of heat. However, I do have a cast iron skillet. I can cook everything separately and mix all the precooked ingredients in it.

As with most of my dishes, I had an something in the fridge that I needed to use. In this case a friend had dropped off a container of leftover cooked rice. There is really only one thing to do with day old cooked rice, that would be fried rice, and in this case chicken fried rice. Now to find the rest of the ingredients. First, some protein. As the name implies, that would be chicken breast. The savory part will be onion and garlic. Now, I’ve noticed that whenever I got fried rice, there would be peas in it, and I always have to have a vegetable component. Just so happens I have some frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer. The seasoning is Teriyaki sauce, got that too

Some of you may say there’s a lot missing from this list. Well there could be. Ginger comes to mind, as does some egg, and there could also be water chestnuts, mini corns, the list is practically endless. But, I should bring up a point, I’m making this as Tuesday night dinner. And, this is all I had in the fridge. If you feel you want to add more, well, have at it. As with most of the recipes I have here, it’s just a start, feel free to customize as you wish, I mean, I do.

This whole dish will come together pretty quickly, so prep is the key. If you don’t have a wok and a furnace stove, the best way to fry the rice is in a cast iron skillet. Preheat the skillet in a 350 degree oven while the rest of the ingredients are prepped. Finely dice half an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, set aside. Slice the chicken breast into thin strips about an inch long and marinade in some teriyaki sauce. Make sure to wash up after handling the chicken, please read my post on safe food prep. Now to start the cooking process. Preheat a regular pan over medium heat, add the oil, sauté the onions and garlic, cover, stirring occasionally.

Now put the preheated skillet over a medium high heat and add some oil. When the oil is hot, add the rice, stir well to coat with the oil. Seasoned cast iron is pretty well non stick, please read my post about it here, but you’ll still have to stir the rice around and break up any clumps. While that is doing it’s thing, add the marinated chicken, frozen vegetables, and any teriyaki sauce to the onions and garlic. Cook the chicken with the lid off, this will allow some of the liquid to evaporate. At this point, in the skillet is the rice, coated in a little oil and not sticking, and, in the pan are the rest of the ingredients. If they were to be cooked together the rice would become soggy and definitely not the consistency that a fried rice dish requires.

When the chicken is cooked, pour the contents of the pan into the rice. Because a skillet will hold it’s heat, remove from the heat, and, mix really well. Now it is ready to serve. Enjoy your chicken fried rice, and, thank you for reading.