There was a period when I couldn’t consider rice in any different shade other than white. Small grain white rice would be prepared on a daily basis, long grain basmati white rice for biryani on special occasions and aromatic short grain white rice for (payesh) Bengali rice pudding. Of course, later I learned about Kerala rice, par boiled rice but no matter how many different kinds were available back then, they were all white. Or at least that's all I knew. These days, markets are brimming with such a special range that one can hardly get bored of eating rice. Options like brown rice, forbidden black rice, red Bhutanese rice and many many more.
I haven’t tried all of these yet but I will get there some day. Very gradually, I started to enjoy the crunchy texture of brown rice. It took a while for me to learn the boiling technique but once I figured that out, brown rice got a permanent spot in my pantry right next to the basmati white rice.
Rice is not our daily diet but once in a while, I like to jazz it up with some egg or chicken, green vegetables and asian sauces to boost the flavor.
This Asian fried rice happened one afternoon when the belly begged for Chinese cuisine. It’s also typically how I often like to use the left over rice from the previous night. Sometimes just with veggies, sometimes with herbs and on certain days, with pan-fried chicken strips.
Making fried rice is extremely easy and there is no limit to what one can add along with it. The key thing is to make sure that the rice is cold before you add it to the wok or else, it will get mushy and that is why it is always best to cook the rice the night before or at least let it cool for few hours!
I generally like to use only white rice while making fried rice, but since these days we both are into brown rice, I thought the variation might be nice. And it was!
If you don’t have left over rice or don’t have enough time to cool the rice, just serve the chicken and rice separately. Call it Asian stir-fried chicken with rice! It will taste good either way.
Asian Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
for the rice
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2-½ cups water
for the asian chicken
- 2 chicken breast (thinly sliced)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup corn flour
- 1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- couple handful of brussels sprouts (thinly sliced)
- 2 bunch green onions (thinly sliced)
- 3 garlic cloves (grated)
- 1 inch fresh ginger (grated)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soya sauce
- 1 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili flakes (add less if you don't like too much spice)
- 4 tablespoons oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- In a deep pan, mix rice with water, bring it a boil and then let it simmer for about 30 to 35 minutes. The water should be absorbed by then. Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes. Fluff it with the fork and let it cool completely before you use it to make the fried rice.
- Beat egg in a bowl and in a separate bowl, sift the corn flour. Dip the chicken strips first in the egg bowl, then in the corn flour, tap off the excess flour and keep it in a plate.
- Once all the chicken strips are coated with egg and flour, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok and fry the chicken strips until golden brown. Keep aside the fried-chicken once done.
- Now in the same wok, add 2 tablespoons oil and bring it to medium heat.
- Add ginger, garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes. Drop the sliced onion and sauté until its translucent.
- Next, add brussel sprouts to the wok/pan. Season it with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for about 2 minutes and then add vinegar, soya sauce, some more salt and brown sugar. Give it a toss and add ¼ cup water and continue cooking until the brussel sprouts are soften.
- Add chopped green onions and the fried-chicken strip that was kept aside to the wok/pan and give it a toss.
- Add the cooked rice and keep tossing lightly until it’s all mixed together.
- Check for salt and add any if required. Squeeze some fresh lime juice, garnish with chopped green onions and serve warm.
Nutrition
Anna @ CCS
We love rice! The white variety can become boring fast and because my Hubby loves the Spanish kind so much, I am always looking for new recipes with rice. I love this one! Pinned and bookmarked!
Papori
Awesome dear. Congratulations on your Success. The asian fried rice looks delicious. Would definitely try it. But can i use Moong sprouts instead of brussel sprouts? Or will this change d taste. In assam we use a black sticky rice to make roasted pancake (pitha) with coconut filling. It tastes lovely. D rice is found mainly in Manipur. Do try it out. Agar school mein rehte he pata hota ki tum eetni aachi cook ho toh tera peecha kabhi nahi chorti. Best frnd bana leti... Ha ha ha.:) anyways dear all the best for the future of Sunshine and Smile.:-)
Kankana Saxena
You are extremely sweet Papori 🙂 well, if I would have known back in school that cooking would make me so happy, trust me I would have joined a culinary school I guess! I know that sticky rice pita and I so LOVE it! But my aunt used to make it with white sticky rice filled with black sesame seed. Not sure if you are referring to same kind of pita.
As for your question regarding the recipe, well, mung sprouts and brussel sprouts are entirely different. You can use shredded cabbage instead of brussel spouts. Google kar for brussel sprouts and you will know what i mean 🙂
Mallika
Red rice is something that needs acquaintance to taste buds and not all admire its beauty, especially if one has grown up eating polished white rice. Fried rice with red rice is something I need to give a try. That's unique and innovative thought, not to forget healthier too. Though I am a vegetarian, I love all these shots taken from above. Lovely composition! 🙂
Mallika
Red rice is something that needs acquaintance to taste buds and not all admire its beauty, especially if one has grown up eating polished white rice. Fried rice with red rice is something I need to give a try. That's unique and innovative thought, not to forget healthier too. Though I am a vegetarian, I love all these shots taken from above. Lovely composition!
Ira Rodrigues
I still could not avoid the beauty of eating rice as a part of my diet, until oneday i have the guts to try Balinese Red rice and brown rice driven with it benefit, now i get used to with them but i never give it a try to make fried rice dish using brown rice. Thanks for the idea and I need to be brave to try living eating food more healthy like you :))
Sandra's Easy Cookin
Now that looks appetizing and delicious! Love the combination here and pictures are just beautiful! I wish you wonderful New Year!
Lubna Karim
At times I prefer colored or flavoured rice than normal plain white rice....love the recipe...it looks scrumptious...
Amy Tong
So beautiful and it got all the flavors and textures that I love. My family only eat brown rice now. This would be perfect to try for sure. 🙂 Happy New Year to you. Wish you and your family a blessed and prosperous 2013! I look forward to reading your posts.
erin @ yummy supper
Kankana, Happy 2013 to you!
Your brown rice bowl is just the kind of dish I could eat every day. I'm a lover of all sorts of rice - I love the nuttiness of a good brown rice. It just tastes healthy to me.
Wishing you all the best this year,
xxxooo
E
Vijitha Shyam
I told ya! brown rice is the way to go. Loving the flavors here.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I absolutely love this dish, perfect for January! The flavors are wonderful!
Karen
This looks wonderful but do you really mean 2 TBS chili flakes? While I'm a fan of hot foods, that seems like quite a bit for that amount of rice and chicken.
Kankana Saxena
Thanks Karen! Yeah, we both like spicy food and 2 tbs did work for us 🙂
Rosa
That is a delicious dish! Healthy and mouthwatering.
Cheers,
Rosa
chinmayie @ love food eat
We eat rice every single day and my husband and daughter are not great fans of red/unpolished rice. So to get the perfect balance between taste and health, I do a 50/50, red and white rice and this way everybody is happy 🙂 I follow the same method with with bread.
I normally make several South Indian style rice dishes with leftover rice but fried rice happens very often too. Love the photo of brown rice here.
Kankana Saxena
Growing up I ate rice every single day. That is how it is in east and south of India I guess. Marrying a North Indian changed that diet and now I am more in to roti! My another fav dish with left over rice is lemon rice.
indugetscooking
Looks yum...Love those chicken strips on the rice, should be a great combination.
And there is something called forbidden black rice? Sounds sssooooo good.
Kankana Saxena
oh yeah, the black rice is longer and I am not sure how it would taste but my guess is crunchier! 🙂
tigerfish
I agree there is a wide variety of rice out there. Plus the other grains and seeds, I really need to keep up! Our regular right now is quinoa, millet and brown rice.
Your fried rice is beautifully done. I wish I could have some 🙂
Kankana Saxena
I haven't tried millet yet! Have to give that a try soon 🙂
Deepa
My hubby is a recent fan of brown rice and if he sees this wonderful looking fried rice he would ask me to make this now !! New header na? Bhalo lagche
Kankana Saxena
Thank you Deepa! Haan ektu shektu change korlum look ta 🙂
Radhika Vasanth
I have a small box of brown basmati that has not been touched for sometime now. Because my brain usually picks up the white one. I hope I get used to this just like quinoa
Kankana Saxena
It took a while for me too, but give it a try, you will like it! 🙂
anh
A beautiful dish! I love the styling of this post too 🙂
Lail | With A Spin
I love brown rice and love fried rice.
The new logo looks great!