Mistakes You’re Making When Cooking Fried Rice

You might think it’s hilarious to make such a big fuss about fried rice but to some people, rice is life! Remember when Uncle Roger watched in horror as a cooking show host made Chinese fried rice? 

Here are mistakes to avoid when making fried rice:  

1 You don’t use high heat when the rice is added.

You know this already but do you do it? You might be afraid to amp up the heat to high when cooking the other ingredients but when it’s time to add the rice, high heat is needed. High heat is important because it will prevent the rice from sticking to the pan or wok you’re using. Whether the pan is nonstick or not, the likelihood of the sticky rice sticking to the pan is increased if the pan is not hot enough. 

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2 You don’t season the rice.

When it comes to fried rice, you want the rice to be flavorful, a delicious side dish that can stand up on its own if need be. This means adding enough seasoning ingredients to the fried rice and this can go beyond plain salt and ground pepper. 

It’s not always enough that you add a little salt and pepper to rice. Feel free to add soy sauce to add a distinct color, too, that you may find in a chao fan rice. Drizzle a little sesame oil to add an aromatic warmth of flavor when cooking a yang chow fried rice. Dye the rice with ground turmeric to color the rice a brilliant golden yellow for an appetizing seafood-infused meal. 

Whatever seasonings, spices, herbs, and other ingredients you add to your fried rice, make sure it’s one that will make it taste fantastic. 

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3 You don’t crumble or separate the rice enough.

This may be the first step you do but it’s an important one. You know you should use day-old rice but you can also use freshly cooked rice, too, with delicious results. The key is that the rice needs to be separated from each other, loosely by the kernel if possible. This not only ensures that the fried rice you make is a delight to eat, but it also makes cooking the rice easier. There are no clumps that hide a soggy and mushy center. 

While you can certainly squash the clumped rice in the pan, it’s best to do this before adding it with the rest of the ingredients so everything cooks evenly.  

4 You burn the garlic. 

Garlic is an ingredient that burns easily so try to avoid burning the garlic. You can do this by adding the garlic after the other ingredients have been cooked so you can toast it before tossing it with the rice. You can also toast the garlic first, remove it from the pan so it won’t burn, and add it afterward as a delightful and flavorful garnish. 

If you’re making sinangag or garlic fried rice, master the timing and you’ll always have perfectly cooked garlic rice every time.

With these tips in mind, here are recipes to try to serve on its own or with your favorite ulam: 

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