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    Home » Round-ups

    Published: Jan 26, 2022 · Modified: Jun 25, 2022 by Zen

    19 Asian Leftover rice recipes

    Waste not, want not: here are 19 easy but delicious recipes to use up your leftover rice! (And they're not all fried rice ideas)

    Close-up of chicken fried rice
    Jump to:
    • Don't leave at room temperature
    • Safe storage tips
    • Porridge
    • Poached Rice
    • Asian Fried Rice
    • Others

    Do you know that almost half of the food is wasted in the US, most of it perfectly edible? It's not only bad for the environment, but also for our wallets, which is why I have an entire category devoted to recipes which use leftovers in this blog, such as What to do with leftover bak kwa/ Chinese pork jerky."

    In an Asian kitchen, 1 of the most common leftover foods is rice. (If you're specifically looking for ideas regarding what to do with leftover sushi rice, click here.)

    Leftover rice can make for very tasty food but here are some important things you need to know about it:

    Don't leave at room temperature

    Leftover rice can give you very bad food poisoning so make sure you store cooked rice correctly- whilst I'm all for reducing waste, if you're ever in doubt, toss it!

    Uncooked rice has spores that can causes food poisoning which survives the cooking process- according to the NHS, if the cooked rice is left at room temperature, the spores turn into bacteria which multiply, and may produce toxins that lead to vomiting.

    The longer the rice has been sitting at room temperature, the higher the possibility that it's no longer safe to eat.

    Side note: similarly, it can be very dangerous to eat 5-day old pasta: people have even died after doing so!

    Safe storage tips

    According to the NHS:

    • Eat the rice right after it has been cooked
    • Cool the rice within 1 hour and store in the fridge
    • Don't eat leftover rice that is over a day old
    • Don't reheat rice more than once
    • Rice should be steaming hot after reheating

    Note: if safely stored, some scientists say that eating "leftover" rice could reduce the amount of calories absorbed by up to 60% and thus help prevent Diabetes. The rice needs to be prepared in a specific way though (click the previous link to find out more.)

    Porridge

    Dried scallop congee recipe
    A delicious seafood congee which uses both dried and frozen scallops for flavor.
    Click here for the dried and frozen scallop porridge recipe.
    A spoon scooping a fresh scallop out of a bowl of seafood congee.
    Leftover rotisserie chicken jook
    Consistently 1 of the top posts on my blog, this ultimate leftover dish that uses up not just leftover rice but also leftover roast/ rotisserie chicken!
    Click here for the leftover roast meat congee.
    A close-up of a bowl of chicken congee
    Chinese Abalone Porridge with chicken
    A no-fuss, easy Chinese abalone porridge (jook or congee) recipe which can be made using store cupboard ingredients
    Click here for the abalone congee recipe.
    Close-up of a bowl of chicken porridge with a huge abalone on top.
    Singapore Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe
    A jook version of the famous Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice that is just as fragrant but super easy to cook!
    Click here for the porridge version of Singapore Chicken Rice!
    Close-up of brown rice cook in a blue and white bowl.

    Poached Rice

    Chinese pumpkin rice with soup and fish
    Adapted from a 5-star hotel with a Michelin star Chinese restaurant's recipe, this easy but delicious pumpkin rice is easy enough to cook on weekday nights. Make sure the rice is completely heated up before serving! Food poisoning from rice is not to be scoffed at!
    Click here for this pumpkin poached rice recipe.
    Bowl of golden pumpkin fish porridge with king oyster mushrooms
    Ginger Chicken in coconut water soup
    Add some leftover rice to this ginger chicken and coconut soup to make Chinese poached rice! The coconut water gives the dish a natural sweetness so you don't have to add more sugar!
    Click here for the coconut & chicken soup recipe.
    A close-up of coconut chicken soup with ginger and lots of ingredients
    A bowl of vegan asian wonton soup with vegetarian balls
    Sprinkle some fried onion slices or fried garlic bits on the soup, if you have them!
    Vegan Wonton Soup with Rice
    Instead of adding noodles, dump your (heated up) leftover rice into this 20-minute wonton soup instead for a quick and easy vegan meal.
    Click here for vegan wonton noodles soup.
    A bowl of vegan chicken soup for fighting a flu

    Asian Fried Rice

    Thai-inspired fried rice
    The curry paste from this recipe makes for a great fried rice. Simply fry the paste in oil till fragrant, add some tomato paste, the leftover rice, fish sauce and sugar, stir till well-mixed and you're good to go!
    Click here for Thai fried rice.
    Close-up of pork and turkey berry curry with rice.
    A platter of yellow fried rice with bacon
    Thai inspired green curry fried rice
    A very innovative take on fried rice, which calls for adding coconut milk to it! (If you don't have coconut milk, add water to coconut cream and stir to make coconut milk.)
    Click here for curry fried rice.
    A plate of Thai inspired green curry rice, made with leftovers
    Bacon fried rice
    Thanks to the bacon, which is tasty in its own right, this fried rice doesn't need much seasoning besides a splash of soy sauce!
    Click here for bacon fried rice.
    A platter of yellow fried rice with bacon
    Chitranna, or Lemon Fried Rice
    Chitranna is an Indian version of fried rice- if you don't have lemons sub with something else that's tangy, such as mangoes!
    Click here for Indian fried rice.
    A bowl of chitranna lemon rice
    Chicken Kimchi Fried Rice
    Kimchi fried rice is so good topped with an egg with a runny centre- for extra oomph, include some cheese as well!
    Click here for Korean fried rice.
    A beautiful plate of kimchi bokkeumbap with egg
    Vegan kimchi rice on an aqua place mat
    Vegan Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi bokkeum-bap)
    Kimchi fried rice is so good that it's not fair for vegans to miss out, so here's a plant-based version
    Click here for vegan kimchi rice.
    Vegan kimchi rice on an aqua place mat
    Turmeric fried rice
    In Singapore, we add turmeric to plain white rice to give it a nice golden sheen- this recipe takes it a step further and adds it to fried rice!
    Click here for turmeric rice.
    A plate of turmeric fried rice and greens
    Chinese fried rice with char siu
    Chinese BBQ Pork Fried Rice
    With nearly 50 recipes, this 4.4-star recipe is a sure-hit! Who doesn't like BBQ pork, after all? (Referring to non-vegans and non-vegetarians, of course!)
    Click here for char siew fried rice.
    Chinese fried rice with char siu
    Breakfast Fried Rice
    Frying up some leftover rice is a fast and easy way to get a hot Asian-style breakfast on the table first thing in the morning!
    Click here for easy fried rice.
    A bowl of fried rice with wok hei
    Vietnamese crab fried rice
    Fried rice is so common these days it can seem like quite an ordinary dish- add some crabs to yours to elevate it! The recipe kindly offers tips on dealing with live crabs too.
    Click here for Vietnamese fried rice.
    Chicken fried rice with lemon
    This 5-starred recipe has an interesting twist on fried rice: it adds a bit of lemon juice to i!
    Click here for chicken fried rice.
    Close-up of chicken fried rice

    Others

    Beautifuly green cabbage rolls with rice stuffing
    Leftover rice makes a great cabbage roll filling
    Cabbage rolls stuffed with rice
    Tired of fried rice? Cabbage rolls are another healthy and easy way to use up leftover rice!
    Click here for cabbage rolls.
    Beautifuly green cabbage rolls with rice stuffing
    Instant Pot red pepper soup with rice
    This Instant Pot recipe is not only convenient, it also has over 20 5-star ratings!
    Click here for pepper & rice soup.
    A bowl of rice pepper soup with rice
    Rice patties with peanut sauce
    These Asian-inspired rice patties are another clever way to use up leftover rice and, maybe even some leftover veg!
    Click here for rice patties.
    4 vegan rice patties on a platter

    If you make any of these recipes, don't forget to tag myself (@greedygirlgourmet) or the recipe author's on social media- we'd love to see what you make!

    Before you go, here are some of my most popular recipes that you may be interested in:

    • Best Poached One Pot Chinatown Soy Sauce Chicken (with rice)
    • Easy Chinese Braised Soy Sauce Chicken Thighs
    • Spicy sticky Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings (Baked)
    • Easy 5-ingredients 12345 pork ribs Recipe
    « Sour plum recipe: Vegan Chinese plum jelly dessert
    CNY Koi Fish Jelly (Easy Chinese New Year Dessert) »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. nancy says

      January 26, 2022 at 10:56 pm

      love this round up for leftover rice. so many option

      Reply
      • Zen says

        January 28, 2022 at 5:02 am

        Thanks Nancy, I figured Asian households will always have leftover rice and may need ideas!

        Reply

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    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen! I couldn't boil water till I was 18 but after living abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years and having to cook for myself, I now love having friends and families over, and cooking for them. I tend to be slightly obsessive-compulsive, so I like to try many different versions of a recipe before coming up with my own "ultimate" version. Check out www.greedygirlgourmet.com every week for new tried-and-tested (on my guinea pigs aka guests!) Asian recipes which are full of flavour!

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