Easy Fried Rice

Step 1

Gather all the ingredients.

Step 2

To prepare steamed rice, microwave your one-day-old rice that’s kept in the refrigerator until room temperature or warm. If you do not have one-day-old rice, then you can cook the rice, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and leave it out on the counter without cover for 1-2 hours. This will remove moisture in the rice.

Step 3

Cut the white part of the green onion into rounds and the green part diagonally, dividing the white and green parts.

Step 4

Cut the ham into ¼ inch square pieces.

Step 5

Crack and whisk the egg in a bowl.

Step 6

Make sure all the ingredients are ready to go. Heat the wok (or the large frying pan) on medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add 1 Tbsp oil and swirl around to make sure all sides of the work (frying pan) are coated with oil. Add the beaten egg and mix around so eggs will be fluffy.

Step 7

While some parts of the egg are still a little bit runny (not all the way cooked), transfer to a plate. We do not want to overcook the egg at this stage.

Step 8

Add 1 Tbsp oil and start cooking ham and white parts of the chopped green onion. Stir fry and coat well with oil.

Step 9

Add the room temp/warm rice into the wok (frying pan). Separate the rice with a spatula, without damaging the rice. Don’t make it mushy by pressing down, but fluff out the rice so it is coated with oil and gets nice wok char.

Step 10

Add the cooked egg back in the wok and break into smaller pieces while you combine with the rice. If some of the rice sticks to the wok, don’t worry as you can scrape it off easily and creates a nice char taste (it happens when the oil was not enough).

Step 11

Season with salt and white pepper. You can add more later after adding soy sauce, if not enough.

Step 12

Add the soy sauce. The key action here is to toss the fried rice in the wok and make it fluffy instead of a big mess of fried rice sitting at the bottom of the wok.

Step 13

Add green parts of the chopped green onion. And after tossing a few more times, transfer to a plate.

Step 14

Fried rice at Chinese restaurants in Japan is often served in a dome shape. If you like to serve it this way, fill the fried rice in a rice bowl, pat down lightly to compact and invert onto a plate.

Step 15

Sprinkle green onion on top, and serve!

Step 16

You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and in the freezer for up to a month.