We love Asian flavored food in our house (although it’s very American-ized, I’m sure!), and I love to make a quick fried rice with whatever protein or vegetables I have on hand. We often have this dipping sauce on the side, called Yum Yum sauce, or in our house, the famous “pink sauce”!
A quick, easy weeknight meal to make is always fried rice! Use whatever proteins you have on hand (cooked or thawed chicken, pork, shrimp or tofu) and any vegetables you have in your fridge or freezer (onions, carrots, peas, broccoli, mushrooms, snow peas, sugar snap peas, cabbage, etc). Mix up the "pink sauce" if you want to make it extra delicious!
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Ingredients
Fried Rice
- oil wok oil, vegetable or canola, whatever you have
- fresh ginger & garlic
- 1 cup cooked rice white or brown, make sure it is cold
- vegetables your choice, see notes
- eggs I use 2-4, use as many as you like!
- chicken, pork, shrimp or tofu see notes
- soy sauce I use Bragg liquid aminos
- sesame seeds for garnish
Pink Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise (see notes, I usually cut in half for two of us)
- 3 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar see notes, I use 1 1/2 t because I like things sweet!
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- pinch salt
- squirt ketchup see notes, I like it sweet!
Ingredients
Fried Rice
Pink Sauce
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Instructions
Fried Rice
- Add oil (wok oil, vegetable, canola or even peanut oil, whatever you have, but preferably not olive oil) and put it in the bottom of your wok or deep skillet over medium high heat. Add some fresh garlic and ginger and stir quickly, don't let it burn.
- Add eggs (I usually use 2-3 for the two of us), and scramble. Remove eggs from pan when they are cooked through and keep warm.
- If you are using meat that is already pre cooked (a great way to use up cooked chicken, pork or shrimp), then you can skip this step. If your meat is uncooked, start over in your wok with oil, garlic and ginger. If you want your meat spicier, add some chili flakes. Add your diced meat (I try to keep the veggies and meat the same size, so small or large dice, however you cut your vegetables) and stir fry until they are cooked through. Remove the cooked protein to the same plate with your eggs.
- Add more oil, garlic and ginger to your pan. Add whatever vegetables you want to include in your fried rice. We don't like green peas, but most people do! We add onion and carrot (these go first, they are harder and take longer to cook), then other veggies that we have on hand (snow peas, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, etc). Cook and stir until all of the veggies are to the desired state, we like them softer but some people prefer them crisp-tender.
- Once everything is cooked (eggs, vegetables and protein), then add your cold, cooked rice to the wok and stir around to break up and warm through. Add all of your ingredients back to the pan (eggs, veggies and protein). Mix all together and make sure everything is warm, then add soy sauce. I use Bragg Liquid Aminos, or you can use tamari. Once everything is coated and tastes right (taste and check and adjust as you go!), then add sesame seeds. I prefer the toasted kind, but if you can't find them, then regular white sesame seeds are fine.
- Serve with your favorite Asian side! We enjoy fried rice with things such as egg rolls, steamed or fried dumpings (potstickers), egg drop or wonton soup, crab rangoon, edamame, more stir fried vegetables or whatever you like. Serve with the pink sauce on the side if you can afford the calories! Enjoy 🙂
Pink Sauce
- For the two of us, I usually halve the ingredients and make about 1/2 cup (so use 1/2 cup of mayo and halve all of the other ingredients). My addition is the ketchup and sugar, leave it out if you don't like your sauce on the sweet side. I have a serious sweet tooth 🙂
- Be sure to make the pink sauce first, and let it chill in the refrigerator. It can chill up to a day ahead, but definitely make it first, before you start chopping vegetables and protein for the fried rice. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
I bet this is a totally American-ized version of traditional fried rice, but it's how I make it, and always have. I don't usually measure, so these are all approximate! I have learned that the key for me is to have cold rice, so I cook it earlier in the day and leave it in the refrigerator until I'm ready to do the stir fry. You can cook the rice and also make the pink sauce ahead, even the day before, and then simply dice and prepare your veggies and meat and you have a quick meal! For the two of us, I halve the pink sauce, because we always have other things with our fried rice. If you're serving more than two, or the fried rice is the only part of your meal, you might want to make the entire recipe of sauce 🙂 Enjoy!
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