Veg Fried Rice Recipe | Vegetable Fried Rice
The timeless Chinese-inspired recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice is abundant with a medley of crisp mixed vegetables, aromatic ingredients, fragrant spices, and seasonings, resulting in a wonderfully robust, flavorsome, and vegan rendition of vegetable fried rice.
Ingredients
For Cooking Rice
- 1 cup basmati rice or long grained rice – 190 to 200 grams
- 4 to 4.5 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt or add as required
- 2 to 3 drops toasted sesame oil or any neutral oil
Other Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil – any neutral flavored oil
- 1 star anise
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon garlic – finely chopped or 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon ginger – finely chopped or ½ inch peeled ginger – optional
- ¼ cup spring onion whites chopped (scallions)
- ¼ cup french beans – finely chopped
- ¼ cup carrots – finely chopped
- ¼ to ½ cup cabbage finely chopped or shredded, optional
- ¼ cup bell pepper or capsicum – chopped. can add red, green or yellow bell peppers
- 1 cup button mushrooms – chopped
- 1 tablespoon celery – chopped, skip if you do not have
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (naturally brewed) or tamari – can add less or more as required or completely skip
- 1 teaspoon rice wine or rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or add as required
- 2 tablespoons spring onions greens – chopped (scallion greens)
- salt as required
Instructions
Cooking Rice
- Rinse rice very well till the water runs clear of starch. Soak rice in water for 30 mins. Drain and keep aside.
- In a pot, bring water to a gentle boil with salt and 2 to 3 drops of toasted sesame oil.
- Add the soaked and drained rice to the hot water.
- On a low to medium to medium-high heat simmer rice without the lid.
- When rice becomes al dente or just about cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Strain the rice in a colander or sieve.
- You can also gently rinse cooked rice in water so that they stop cooking and don't stick to each other.Cover the cooked rice and set aside until the rice cools completely. You can even refrigerate rice with a covered lid for 30 minutes.
Chopping Veggies
- When the cooked rice is cooling, chop the veggies finely and keep aside.
- Remember to chop the french beans very finely. They take more time to cook than other veggies.You can also blanch them first and then cook. Another option is to add the beans first and then add the other vegetables.
Making Veg Fried Rice
- Heat oil in a wok or a pan. First add the star anise and fry for a few seconds or until the oil becomes fragrant.
- Add the garlic, ginger and sauté for some seconds. No need to brown the garlic.
- Add the spring onions whites and sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Then add finely chopped french beans.
- Stir fry french beans for 2 to 3 minutes over medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the remaining finely chopped veggies, including mushrooms and celery. Increase the heat to a high to thoroughly cook all of the vegetables.
- You have to continuously toss and stir while frying so that the veggies are uniformly cooked and do not get burnt.
- The vegetables have to be stir-fried, until they are almost cooked and yet retain their crunchiness and crispiness. Stir-frying vegetables on high heat takes about 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir quickly and add cooked and cooled rice.
- Stir fry for a few minutes until the sauce has coated the rice well. Keep a check when adding salt, as soy sauce already has salt in it.
- Serve the veg fried rice hot as it is or with with your favorite Chinese side.
Serving Suggestions
- Though fried rice tastes great on its own, you can pair it with Veg Manchurian, Gobi Manchurian, Chilli Paneer, Spring Rolls or Chilli Mushroom. More side recipes for veg fried rice are linked and listed in the main post.
Storing Fried Rice
- Vegetable fried rice stays good for a day when refrigerated. But I would recommend it to be eaten as soon as you make it since a few days old refrigerated rice is not good for health.
Nutrition
Calories: 394kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 8gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1815mgPotassium: 309mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 2014IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!