Garlic Fried Rice is the easiest and tastiest fried rice you’ll make with just 6 ingredients and done in 15 minutes!
What is Garlic Fried Rice?
Garlic Fried Rice is a common way of cooking rice in Southeast Asian countries, especially in the Philippines. It’s a usual component in their breakfast sets called “silog”, which is a combination of “SInangag” (garlic fried rice), “itLOG” (eggs), and any protein like beef tapa, pork tocino, corned beef, and the like.
With my collaboration with Chef Jon, he prepared this simple yet amazing with his very own twist. Comprising ingredients you already have at home, you’ll be able to make this on a whim for a quick meal!
Ingredients You’ll Need
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For this recipe, there will be no measurements. You can put as much rice, garlic, or egg as you like and season it with your heart in a true Asian fashion.
Day-old Rice
Personally, I love using freshly steamed rice in my fried rice because I love the hot and soft texture. But to be able to do that, you must master the art of making rice that’s not wet and mushy.
Jon recommends using day-old rice or leftover rice, one that has dried out and you can easily crumble before cooking.
If you have newly cooked rice and still want to make this, you can fast-track the drying process by placing your cooked rice in a baking tray and letting it cool in the fridge. By doing this, it will lose its moisture and it will be perfect to use for any fried rice.
Garlic and Garlic Chives
The star of this dish is garlic! While using garlic cloves alone can make this tasty already, the chives just add freshness to the dish.
Use freshly chopped garlic over blended or bottled garlic like I always do. Fresh ones will add so much more flavor and you can mince it in a size where you still get good chunks and really taste the garlic in the fried rice.
Egg
Eggs are a great protein option that you can add to here to make this a complete meal. It perfectly complements the chives too!
Seasoning
It doesn’t take much to make this tasty. All you need is salt, soy sauce, and MSG. The salt will bring out the natural taste of all other ingredients and the soy sauce and MSG will bring umami.
Seriously though, there is nothing wrong with using MSG if you use it moderately. It will only intensify the flavor of your food so you can enjoy it even more! A great alternative to MSG is a little bit of oyster sauce.
Wok
While you can easily make this in a pan, Chef Jon highly recommends using a wok to make fried rice. Only a wok can give you that unique “wok hei” or smoky flavor which makes all the difference in making this even better.
Don’t forget to pre-season your wok by putting some oil and heating it up to remove excess moisture and make it nonstick!
How to make Garlic Fried Rice?
Step 1: Prepare your ingredients by chopping up the garlic and chives, beating the eggs, and crumbling your rice.
Step 2: Heat up your pan or wok and saute the garlic. At this point, you need to keep an eye on the garlic because it easily burns and turns bitter.
Step 3: Once the garlic is fragrant and lightly browned, add your crumbled rice and mix it well. The oil should be perfectly infused with all the garlic and it should make the rice tasty.
Step 4: Remove the rice from the wok and cook the eggs and chives together in the same pan. Season the eggs with salt, cook until about 90%, and in big chunks. By doing this separately from the rice, you will prevent wet fried rice.
Step 5: Add back the rice and season with soy sauce and MSG. Mix until well combined. Allow it to sit a little bit more in the wok so it develops a good crust at the bottom. Serve and enjoy!
Serving Garlic Fried Rice
There are many different ways you can serve this! Pair it with a protein like Soy Garlic Chicken BBQ or Spicy Chicken BBQ and you’re good to go.
But if you just want a quick meal, I find the eggs are great enough protein to make this filling. Simply serve it up with some napa cabbage kimchi or radish kimchi and you’re good to go!
For any leftovers, store them in the fridge for a couple of days and reheat them in the microwave as needed.
Other fried rice recipes you might like:
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Garlic Fried Rice Recipe
Equipment
- Wok or Pan
Ingredients
- Vegetable or Canola Oil For sauteing
- Garlic Minced
- Garlic Chives Chopped
- Eggs Beaten
- Day-old Rice Crumbled
- Salt
- Soy Sauce
- MSG
Instructions
- Prepare your garlic, chives, eggs, and rice.
- Saute the garlic until fragrant and nearly golden, then crumble your rice on top of it.
- Mix thoroughly until the garlic and its oil is well infused, then remove the rice from the pan.
- Place the eggs and chives in the pan, season with salt, and cook until big chunks form.
- When the eggs are 90% cooked, place the rice back into the pan and season with soy sauce and MSG.
- Give it another mix until it is well combined and the rice is tasty.
- Serve with some good ol’ kimchi and enjoy!
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