What to serve with Fried Rice: the best side dishes from Chinese egg drop soup and chicken teriyaki to fish sauce Brussels Sprouts! (They even go well with a plain bowl of white rice!)
Fried rice is 1 of the most basic dishes in Asian cuisine and a great way to use up leftover rice. You find rice dishes in Thai food (tuna fried rice), Chinese food (BBQ pork fried rice, for example), Korean (kimchi and gochujang fried rice), Japanese (garlic fried rice) etc etc!
It goes well with almost every dish, from a simple fried egg to the recipes below.
Expert Tips
Tip #1: This is a great way to use up overnight rice (cold rice that was cooked the day before and stored properly as rice goes bad easily! Click here for easy leftover rice fried rice recipes.) (Freshly cooked rice gives you a mushy fried rice, which is not what you want at all.)
Tip #2: Render your own pork lard and use it to stir-fry the rice- the fried rice will be so much more fragrant!
Tip #3: To get that smoky flavor characteristic of the best Chinese cuisine, you need to stir fry everything very quickly on very high heat.
Tip #4: Don't forget to garnish your dish with some sliced green onions, lightly toasted sesame seeds and/or sesame oil for more flavor.
Soups
Chinese people normally serve a bowl of soup at every meal. Here are some suggestions that go beyond the typical hot and sour soup (though I have a recipe for that too!)
Pumpkin Carrot Soup
Hot and Sour Soup
Also known as Suan La Tang, this is a tangy and warming soup that is especially delicious on a cold day!
Tip: go slow on the cornstarch slurry- we don't want the soup to be a goopy mess!
Coconut Chicken Soup
Wonton Soup
This takeout classic has a mild flavor despite the ginger and garlic used.
Egg Drop Soup
This 10 minute soup recipe uses chicken broth and is super easy to make.
Tip: don't substitute the white with black pepper- they are not interchangeable!
Appetisers
Cucumber salad
Tip: for best results, make this delicious side dish an hour or so before and leave it in the fridge so the cucumber really has time to absorb all the flavors!
Egg Rolls
Instead of deep-fried rolls, you can also bake this recipe if you want to be healthier. They are ready in 30 minutes!
Note: if you like these shrimp rolls, you'll love these Chinese shrimp recipes, such as Singaporean shrimp noodles, another Asian restaurant takeout favorite!
Spring Rolls
Whether you like the Chinese or Vietnamese version of spring rolls, we have you covered!
For more dim sum recipes, check out this list of classic Cantonese dishes.
Goes really well with this homemade vegan hoisin sauce!
Chinese Dumplings
3 types of Chinese jiaozi, from pork and chicken to vegetarian, which are also freezer-friendly!
Seafood
Teriyaki Salmon
The same teriyaki sauce can be served with pan-fried tofu or even as teriyaki chicken thighs.
Korean Salmon
Chicken
Chinese Chicken Curry
For more ways to use up your pumpkin harvest, click here!
Fingerlicking Chinese Wings
Chicken wings are not just for Super Bowl! They go really well with egg-fried rice and more too!
Vietnamese Wings
Soya Sauce Chicken
Or click here for an easy version of this Soy Sauce Chicken which uses the best part- chicken thighs!
Spicy Roast Chicken
Pork
Braised Pork Ribs
Soy Sauce Pork
Sweet and Sour Pork
This delicious sweet and sour pork with bell peppers recipe is so good, you can eat it with plain white or brown rice too!
Note: I recommend using green pepper instead of yellow or red pepper as it forms a nicer contrast with the red sauce and looks more appetising.
Meat Jerky
This is delicious cut into small pieces as a fried rice topping or stir-fried with the rice itself!
Fresh Veggies & More
Kimchi Eggs
Butter Soy Mushrooms
Mushroom lovers, check out these delicious Asian shroom recipes.
Bok Choy
Stir-fried in oyster sauce and garlic, this Bok Choy recipe is a great choice for almost every type of fried rice!
Salted Ducks Egg Yolk Tofu
If you like tofu, don't forget to try these Chinese tofu recipes!
Dessert
Beautifying Soup
Gui Hua Gao Jelly
Yuzu Jelly
Black Sesame Tong Sui
If you're a fan of this Chinese dessert, I recommend making a big batch of Chinese black sesame paste. You can even use it for lattes and cookies!
Drinks
Chinese Plum tea is a great drink for digestion.
Note: If you're serving Kimchi Fried rice, maybe try Korean Plum tea instead?
Barley Tea
Tea is a great way to wash down the oil of fried foods: if you're caffeine-intolerant, try this barley tea recipe which promotes sleep!
FAQs
As fried rice is usually made with leftover rice, I prefer to keep fried rice in the fridge for no more than 1 day.
Yes, Chinese fried rice is usually made with Jasmine rice that was cooked the day before, (Overnight rice has a drier consistency and so tastes better after stir-frying.) Japanese and Korean fried rice, on the other hand, is usually made with short-grain sushi rice.
It all depends on what you add to your fried rice and how much oil you use in it!
Yes you can but you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible so that bacteria doesn't grow as rice spoils easily and can give you nasty food poisoning. You can even freeze egg fried rice as the rice protects the texture of the egg (it doesn't become as rubbery.)
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