Easy Leftover Rice Fried Rice with Chicken Broth and Scrambled Egg

I know I’m going to repeat myself, but fried rice is one of those dishes that should be part of every home cook’s repertoire. It’s versatile, it’s fast, and it’s a fantastic way to use up leftovers both cooked rice and vegetables. Normally, for a good fried rice, you’d use plain cooked rice with no heavy seasoning, because all the flavor comes later in the wok or skillet, from the soy sauce, the garlic, the vegetables. But what happens if you have leftover rice that was cooked in chicken broth, already with little bits of carrot and garlic in it? Can you still make a great fried rice?

Of course you can! This is a classic fried rice recipe in every sense of the word, and proof that you don’t need “perfect” rice to get an excellent result. The secret is having the rice nice and dry the next day. As long as it’s not soggy and it’s spent a night in the fridge drying out, it’s going to make a spectacular fried rice. In this case, since the rice already had flavor from the chicken broth and the vegetables, I only adjusted the salt a little at the end, because the rice itself was already slightly salty, so after frying it was exactly right. With a pile of scrambled eggs mixed in and chopped cilantro on top, it was perfect.

I also used 2 eggs instead of 1, because with the leftover chicken broth rice I wanted a more complete meal, and I also added extra carrot and garlic to the sauté beyond what was already in the rice, just to make it nicerrrrrr heheheh. The result was a fried rice with that extra depth of flavor that comes from the broth, but with all the lightness and slightly crispy texture that a good fried rice should have. Perfect? Uhhh maybe?!?!? 😉 Let’s get to the recipe!

Easy Leftover Rice Fried Rice with Chicken Broth and Scrambled Egg

Servings: 2
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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Oh yeah! This is a delicious, simple, and fast recipe, perfect for a lighter summer meal... if i say so myself... ;D

Ingredients

Rice – 200g (Long Grain Already Cooked in Chicken Broth)
Onion – 1 Small
Carrot – 1/2 Small
Garlic – 3 Cloves
Eggs – 2
Olive Oil – A Drizzle
Soy Sauce – A Drizzle
Cilantro – A Pinch
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – To Taste

Directions

Start by finely chopping the onion, carrot, and garlic. Place these in a large skillet over medium-high heat with a drizzle of olive oil and sauté until the onion begins to brown.
Add the already cooked and dry rice and mix well. Let the rice fry a little and brown slightly, add a little more olive oil if necessary to prevent sticking.
When the rice begins to lightly toast, in a separate bowl, whisk the 2 eggs with a pinch of salt (be careful, the rice already has salt from the broth, so don’t overdo it). Push the rice aside and add the whisked eggs. Let them cook a little, then crumble them into pieces and mix everything into the rice.
Then finally season the rice with a drizzle of soy sauce, stir, taste, and adjust with salt and pepper carefully, as like i said the chicken broth has already seasoned the rice, and that’s it!
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: The most important thing in this recipe is that the rice needs to be dry. If the rice is humid, it will steam in the pan instead of frying, and you won’t get that slightly crispy texture that makes all the difference. Leaving it in the fridge overnight uncovered, or with the lid cracked open, helps a lot to dry out the cooked rice.

Since the rice was cooked in chicken broth, it already has salt and flavor, so unlike normal fried rice recipes, it’s better to go easy when seasoning. Always taste before adding more salt or soy sauce and adjust at the end. In this case it was very easy to accidentally over salt without realizing it.

Traditionally, fried rice uses a neutral oil instead of olive oil, and a drizzle of sesame oil at the very end to finish, since olive oil has its own distinct flavor. But if you like olive oil like me, go right ahead and use it, just like in this recipe.

If you want to make the dish even more flavorful, you can add a drizzle of sesame oil at the very end, off the heat. It gives an incredible toasty aroma that pairs beautifully with the chicken flavor coming from the rice.

This recipe for Easy Leftover Rice Fried Rice with Chicken Broth and Scrambled Egg was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Arroz Frito de Caldo de Frango e Ovo, Pronto em 15 Minutos foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.