Egg and Pea Fried Rice
- Savory
- Quick
- Asian
- Stovetop
- Oven
Day-old rice tossed over high heat with garlic, ginger, eggs and sweet peas, finished with soy sauce and spring onions. A fast, savory one-pan dinner.
- Total
- 18 min
- Prep 6 · Cook 12
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Stir-frying · Seasoning in layers
Instructions
-
If your rice is freshly cooked, spread it on a plate and let it steam off for a few minutes so it dries; cold leftover rice works best. Break up any clumps with your fingers.
~3 min
Dry rice grains fry rather than steam, so they stay separate and toast instead of turning gluey.
Cold, dry rice fries rather than steams; if you only have freshly cooked rice, spread it on a plate and let the surface moisture evaporate before it hits the wok.
-
Peel and finely chop the garlic and grate the ginger. Slice the spring onions thinly, keeping the white and green parts separate. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat with a fork.
~3 min
-
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large wok over high heat until it shimmers. Pour in the beaten eggs and scramble for about 45 seconds, until just set but still soft. Tip them onto a plate.
~2 min
Soft-scrambling the eggs first and removing them keeps them tender, since they would toughen if left in the wok.
Seasoning in layers Season in stages: a little salt in the eggs, then soy sauce at the end. Taste before adding more, since soy sauce is already salty.
-
Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil to the wok. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant but not browned.
~1 min
Aromatics release their flavor quickly in hot oil; browning them too long turns them bitter.
Stir-frying Keep the heat high and keep everything moving; the cue is a constant sizzle and light toasting, not a wet, steaming pan.
-
Add the rice and peas and stir-fry for 4 minutes, pressing the rice against the hot pan, until the grains are hot and lightly toasted and the peas are tender.
~4 min
Pressing the rice against the hot pan gives it direct contact so it toasts and picks up savory browned flavor.
Stir-frying Keep the heat high and keep everything moving; the cue is a constant sizzle and light toasting, not a wet, steaming pan.
-
Return the eggs to the wok, add the soy sauce, salt and black pepper, and toss for 1 minute until everything is coated and steaming. Scatter over the spring onion greens and serve straight away.
~1 min
Adding soy sauce around the hot edge of the wok makes it sizzle and smell toasted rather than tasting raw.
Keep the heat high and stir constantly so the rice toasts instead of turning soft, and add the soy sauce around the edge of the wok so it sizzles and smells toasted.
Stir-frying Keep the heat high and keep everything moving; the cue is a constant sizzle and light toasting, not a wet, steaming pan.
Seasoning in layers Season in stages: a little salt in the eggs, then soy sauce at the end. Taste before adding more, since soy sauce is already salty.
