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Friday nights was Chinese night at my house, we would order a spread of: fried chicken, egg rolls, wontons, egg drop soup and shrimp fried rice. Oh, and plenty of soy sauce and duck sauce too. Yum! That was my inspiration for my spicy soul chicken fried rice recipe.
It was not until I was hired as a dishwasher at a Rock-n-Sake Bar and Sushi that I learned how to make fried rice. The secret to making fried rice is a hot skillet. Of course, in restaurants they use woks on super high heat but home stoves do not put out the same amount of heat. That’s not going to stop us from making a wonder bowl of fried rice. You just need to pay attention to a few key areas and you’ll have amazing fried rice at home in 30 minutes or less.
First, you want to use a heavy bottom skillet, I prefer cast iron because it holds heat well and distributes heat evenly. Preferably you want to cook over a high heat. However, If you are not comfortable with high temperature cooking, then cook over medium heat. Just let the skillet sit over the fire for 2 minutes before you begin cooking. This will ensure a piping hot skillet.
Next, in the heavy bottom skillet add some oil and onions and stir for about 2-3 minutes until onions begin to caramelize. Then you add your rice, soy sauce, seasonings and green onions. The best rice to use is rice that is 1-3 days old because it’ll be a little drier and will absorb the soy sauce better. If you are adding shrimp or lobster you would add at this point. Shellfish takes no time to cook.
No fried rice is complete without egg. Take an egg in a non-stick skillet and scramble. Be cautious not to overcook your eggs because you will be adding them to the hot rice mixture and they will continue to cook. Cut the fire off and garnish with some more green onions and it’s ready to serve.
Of course, I just couldn’t make fried rice without adding a little twist by making a spicy soy glaze chicken fried rice. I made a quick glaze with oil, red chili flakes, soy sauce, teriyaki, pineapple juice and made a slurry with cornstarch and pineapple juice. The slurry helps thicken the glaze.
I seasoned the chicken with black pepper, granulated garlic, granulated onion. Then cooked it on both sides and followed the rest of the fried rice steps with the onions, rice, soy sauce, green onions and eggs.
This dish is packed with flavor! You can literally add and take away any ingredient you like in fried rice and make it for your own personal style! Cook this deliciousness up for your friends this week and leave a comment below.
Spicy Soul Chicken Fried Rice
Cooking Tips:
The flavor of fried rice comes from the iron in the woks and the many years of cooking in the same skillets. This is another reason why I prefer cast iron skillets. Even the woks made for home cooks don’t distribute heat as well as cast iron does. A hot skillet is so important with this dish!
Can you make ahead?
Fridge: Chicken fried rice will be good for 7 days.
Reheating: Reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or bake in a 350F oven for 10 minutes or until hot.
Recipe Video:
Substitution Options:
You can use shrimp for this recipe.
Red pepper flakes offer a minimum amount of heat. If you do not want it spicy, omit the red pepper flakes.
Using brown rice is a great way to make this recipe healthier.
what to serve with Spicy Soul Chicken Fried Rice?
Meal Ideas:
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Skewers with Tzatziki Sauce
- Chicken Spinach Alfredo Flatbread
- New Orleans Carbonara
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Recipe:
📖 Recipe
Spicy Soul Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
Spicy Soy Glaze:
- 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- ¼ cup teriyaki sauce
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 4 thin sliced chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons oil
Fried Rice:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 1 tablespoon granulated onion
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 3 bunches green onions chopped
Instructions
Spicy Soy Glaze
- In a non-stick skillet over medium heat red chili flakes and oil for 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute then add garlic, hoisin, and soy sauce; mix pineapple juice and cornstarch together pour in skillet, bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat once thickened.
Chicken:
- Season chicken evenly with pepper, granulated garlic and granulated onion on both sides, rub 1 teaspoon of oil evenly on both sides of chicken. Heat a grill pan or non-stick skillet and cook chicken for 2-3 minutes each side. Once second side of chicken is done cooking pour 1 tablespoon of glaze on each side of the chicken. Let them sit in skillet.
- In a heavy bottom skillet heat skillet over medium high heat, add oil and onion, cook for 2 minutes constantly stirring onion. Add rice, granulated onion, granulated garlic and pepper; reduce heat to medium cook for 2-3 minutes until rice is hot. Remove from heat.
- While that’s cooking heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add butter once hot add eggs and stir while cooking to scramble eggs for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add soy sauce to rice stir until rice is brown. Stir in eggs and half the green onions.
- To serve pile fried rice on plate, slice chicken and lay on top then drizzle remaining sauce over chicken and garnish with remaining green onions.
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