Remember those hazy, hungover days in college when you only had a couple of bucks to your name and all you could afford was pork fried rice from the local Chinese joint? So damn good!
The honest truth is, it’s so easy to totally upscale pork fried rice at home, and it’ll become one of your go-to favorites.
So the magic keys to some great fried rice? Cool, dry and operated rice. Ghee. Toasted sesame oil. Just a few tweaks to elevate this hard core. Let’s go!
(This recipe does two large servings – adjust as needed)
Ingredients:
- 1-2 C Cooked white rice, cool, dry and separated
- 1/2 lb Pork, cut in thin slices
- 1/4 C Frozen peas
- 1/4 C Diced carrots (frozen or fresh)
- 1/4 C Diced onion
- 1 Clove garlic, chopped
- 2 T Peanut oil
- 2 T Ghee
- 1 egg (loosely whisked with a bit of milk)
- 2 T Soy sauce
- 2 t toasted sesame oil
Protip: Get in the habit of making extra rice when you make a stir fry so whipping up this super tasty dish will be extra easy!
How to make Ghee (which is clarified butter): take two sticks of putter and put into a small saucepan and simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes. This will separate the milk solids, but won’t burn the butter. Use a spoon to skim off most of the solids, then strain with a cheesecloth into a small Tupperware. You can store this in the fridge for up to two months. Ghee has a much higher smoking point that regular butter so you can do so much with it. We use it to make hash browns or skillet potatoes.
Spread the cooked rice on a rimmed cookie sheet and separate with a fork – cool down in the fridge.
With the pork, you can go any way you want. You can buy one of those small pork tenderloin roasts and roast it (use the rest for another meal or sandwiches). You can use leftover pork. You can stir fry uncooked pork in 1 T of peanut oil. Just make sure you cut it into thin strips. If you are stir frying it for this dish, marinate it in a bit of soy sauce for 15 minutes or so first.
Once you’ve got your pork ready, set it aside in a bowl. Heat 1 T of peanut oil and get it good and hot (in a wok or frying pan). Add in your carrots, onion and garlic and stir fry for a minute or two, then toss in the peas. Stir fry for another minute and then set aside in a bowl.
Wipe out your wok or frying pan. Heat 2 T of Ghee and get it good and shimmering. Toss in your cooled rice and toss to coat. Then leave it be for a few minutes – you’re wanting to get a little crust on the rice. Toss again and leave for another few minutes, until you get a nice crunchiness.
Now toss in your pork and your veggies and stir together. Drizzle your egg over the rice and stir. Add in the soy sauce and stir again. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
Serve in bowls. We garnish ours with fresh chopped cilantro. You can also use some soy sauce or hot chili oil to season your bowl to taste. Take a bite and go WOW!
