Love the Special Fried Rice you get from the Chinese takeaway? Well now you can make your own at home with my easy peasy recipe! Ready in under 20 minutes, it’s perfect for those busy weeknights. It’s also a great way to clear out your fridge and use up leftovers!
A takeaway favourite!
Hands up who loves Special Fried Rice? It’s a real takeaway favourite… and now you can make it at home – in less than 20 minutes. (That’s faster than getting a takeaway delivered round where I live!)
So easy to make…
My fakeaway version of Special Fried Rice is super easy to make. All you need to do is fry some bacon lardons, then add cooked rice (see tip below) and shredded chicken and stir-fry. Next, you make a well (hole) in the centre of the rice/chicken and tip in beaten eggs. Leave for 45 seconds and then stir the part-cooked eggs into the rice. Then, add frozen peas and cooked prawns and continue frying until the peas and prawns are cooked through, and you start to get some nice crispy brown bits. Finally add soy sauce, sesame oil and spring onions… and serve. Easy Peasy!
A sneaky shortcut
To make this dish super quick and easy, I have a sneaky shortcut – I use microwavable pouches of rice! If you just get the plain ones, all you are buying is cooked rice, but it saves the faff of having to cook and cool rice (because you should always use cold rice to make fried rice).
**TOP TIP: break up the microwave rice by massaging it while it is still in the closed packet. This will ensure the cooked rice is beautifully separated and not in one big clump!**
Make it your own!
The great thing about Special Fried Rice is it’s very adaptable – it’s also a great way to clear out your fridge and use up leftovers!
For example, you could:
- Use any leftover meats (pork works particularly well)
- Use diced chorizo instead of lardons
- Add extra veggies, such as peppers, carrots, sweetcorn or mushrooms
- Use basmati rice instead of long grain rice
- Use brown rice instead of white rice
What to serve with Special Fried Rice?
This dish really is a complete meal on its own – and because it’s so quick and easy, it’s the perfect one pan meal for busy weeknights. But if you have a bit more time, you can serve this Special Fried Rice as part of a spread with your favourite Chinese-inspired dishes, such as:
What to drink with Special Fried Rice?
This dish goes really well with aromatic white wines, such as Viognier, Riesling (especially off-dry Riesling) or Gewürztraminer. Alternatively, this dish also works well with dry, fruity rosés.
What to do with leftover Special Fried Rice?
I don’t recommend reheating this dish. Both rice and prawns can lead to food poisoning if reheated incorrectly, and it is never a good idea to reheat food that has already been reheated once before.
And besides, it’s so delicious, you are very unlikely to have any leftovers!
Can you freeze Special Fried Rice?
No, this recipe is not suitable for freezing.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Peasy Special Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 180 g lardons (I use Tesco Finest Dry Cure Bacon Lardons)
- 500 g cooked long grain white rice (I use 2x Uncle Ben's Original Long Grain Microwave Rice – see Note 1)
- 360 g cooked chicken shredded (I use 2x Tesco Ready To Eat Flamegrilled Chicken Chunks)
- 4 medium eggs beaten
- 100 g frozen peas
- 150 g cooked prawns (I use Tesco Finest Canadian Cooked Prawns)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 spring onions (AKA scallions) sliced finely
- Fresh coriander (AKA cilantro) roughly chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over a fairly high heat for 1 minute. Add the lardons and stir-fry for 2 minutes, until nicely browned.
- Add the cooked rice (See Note 2) and shredded chicken, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- Make a well (hole) in the centre of the rice/chicken and tip in the beaten eggs. Leave for 45 seconds and then stir the part-cooked eggs into the rice.
- Add the frozen peas and cooked prawns and continue frying for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peas and prawns are cooked through, and you start to get some nice crispy brown bits.
- Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and half the spring onions. Fry for 1 more minute.
- Serve scattered with the remaining spring onions and fresh coriander. Put the bottles of soy sauce and sesame oil on the table for everyone to help themselves to extra, if needed.
Notes
- I use pouches of microwave rice to speed up the cooking process and make this recipe even simpler. But, if you prefer, you can use ordinary uncooked long grain white rice instead. You will need to use approximately 250g uncooked rice. Cook according to packet instructions then cool the hot rice in a sieve under cold water until it’s properly cold, and drain thoroughly.
- TOP TIP: break up the microwave rice by massaging it while it is still in the closed packet. This will ensure the cooked rice is beautifully separated and not in one big clump!
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Pete says
Hi Eb. Yet another delicious and very doable recipe. Love a good SFR ;-D. I’m going to try dehydrating this one for my hiking and bike packing adventures. Thanks very much and keep up the great work. Cheers ;-D
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Pete! So glad you like the recipe 😀 I’d love to hear how you get on with dehydrating it! Eb 🙂
Jenny says
This is delicious and tastes just as good as the takeaway version.
Last time I made it, I served it with battered chicken and home made sweet and sour sauce. The perfect fake-away!
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that 😀 Thank you for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating!