Fast and easy enough for breakfast even on the busiest morning. Or serve as a light meatless lunch or dinner. For serious carnivores, enjoy it as a side dish.
But… three soy sauces? Yes. Light soy sauce (for saltiness), dark soy sauce (for a deeper color and saltiness) and sweet soy sauce (for balance). Trust me, combining all three works. You won’t get the same kind of nuance by using only one kind of soy sauce. And you need plenty of nuance when cooking meatless dishes.
We’re on a soy sauce journey, actually. Since the global debacle that began in the first quarter of 2020, sourcing ingredients had been largely hit-and-miss. For the first time in a long time, we have a complete supply of soy sauces and seasonings, and we’re having a ball with them.
In this recipe, although egg is present in Chinese-style fried rice 99.9% of the time, we decided to omit it just to find out just how necessary egg really is in fried rice. The verdict? Fried rice is delicious with or without egg IF seasoned correctly and sufficiently.
As with any fried rice, using newly cooked rice, even if it has cooled down to room temperature, is not a good idea. Use day-old rice. Letting it sit overnight in the fridge is even better.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- ¼ cup chopped scallions white and light green portions only
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup chopped shiitake caps only
- ½ cup chopped button mushrooms
- ½ cup chopped shimeji
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- ½ cup chopped bell pepper
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 to 4 cups cooked rice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced scallions (dark green portion), to garnish
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Saute the scallions, garlic, mushrooms, carrot and bell pepper with salt and pepper until the vegetables are cooked through.
- Spread the rice over the mushrooms and vegetables.
- Drizzle in the soy sauces and oyster sauce.
- Stir fry until the rice is heated through.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
- Off the heat, drizzle in the sesame seed oil and toss well.
- Ladle the fried rice into bowls, top with sliced scallions and sesame seeds, and serve immediately.
