Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fried rice is a popular component of East Asian, Southeast Asian and certain South Asian cuisines, as well as a staple national dish of Indonesia. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with ingredients left over from other dishes, leading to countless variations. Fried rice first developed during the Sui Dynasty in China.
Many varieties of fried rice have their own specific list of ingredients. In China, common varieties include Yangzhou fried rice and Hokkien fried rice. Japanese chahan is considered a Japanese Chinese dish, having derived from Chinese fried rice dishes. In Southeast Asia, similarly constructed Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean nasi goreng and Thai khao phat are popular dishes. In the West, most restaurants catering to vegetarians have invented their own varieties of fried rice, including egg fried rice. Fried rice is also seen on the menus of American restaurants offering cuisines with no native tradition of the dish. Additionally, the cuisine of some Latin American countries includes variations on fried rice, including Ecuadorian chaulafan, Peruvian arroz chaufa, Cuban arroz frito, and Puerto Rican arroz mamposteao.
Fried rice is a common street food in Asia. In some Asian countries, small restaurants, street vendors and traveling hawkers specialize in serving fried rice. In Indonesian cities it is common to find fried rice street hawkers moving through the streets with their food cart and stationing it in busy streets or residential areas. Many Southeast Asian street food stands offer fried rice with a selection of optional garnishes and side dishes.
Cooked rice is the primary ingredient, with myriad additional ingredients, such as vegetables, eggs, meat (chicken, beef, pork, lamb, mutton), preserved meat (bacon, ham, sausage), seafood (fish, shrimp, crab), mushrooms, among others. Aromatics such as onions, shallots, scallions, leeks, and garlic are often added for extra flavor. Various cooking oils, such as vegetable oil, sesame oil, clarified butter, or lard can be used to grease the wok or frying pan to prevent sticking, as well as for flavor. Fried rice dishes can be seasoned with salt, different types of soy sauce, oyster sauce and many other sauces and spices. Popular garnishes include chopped scallions, sliced chili, fried shallots, sprigs of parsley or coriander leaves, toasted sesame seeds, seaweed flakes (gim or nori), sliced cucumber, tomato, lime, or pickled vegetables.
The earliest record of fried rice is in the Sui dynasty (589-618 AD) in China.
Fried rice (Thai: ข้าวผัด, RTGS: khao phat, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced [kʰa(ː)w pʰat]) in Thailand is typical of central Thai cuisine. In Thai, khao means “rice” and phat means “of or relating to being stir-fried”. This dish differs from Chinese fried rice in that it is prepared with Thai jasmine rice instead of regular long-grain rice. It normally contains meat (chicken, shrimp, pork, and crab are all common), egg, onions, garlic and sometimes tomatoes. The seasonings, which may include soy sauce, sugar, salt, possibly some chili sauce, and the ubiquitous nam pla (fish sauce), are stir-fried together with the other ingredients. The dish is then plated and served with accompaniments like cucumber slices, tomato slices, lime, sprigs of green onion and coriander, and prik nam pla, a spicy sauce made of Thai chili, fish sauce, and chopped garlic.
Arroz frito is a denomination used in the Spanish speaking world, meaning “fried rice”, with adjectives describing the Chinese-inspired varieties, e.g. arroz chino, arroz cantones, or local specialties arroz chaufa/chaulafan/chaufan/chofan, arroz frito tres delicias.
An estimated 30,000 people of Chinese origin live in the Dominican Republic. Migration from China began in the second half of the 19th century. Fried rice alongside fried chicken (chicarron de pollo) has been the biggest influence. Dominican fried rice is known as chofan. The dish is made with leftover white rice, celery, peppers, onions, carrots, peas, soy sauce and ham, chicken, eggs or shrimp sauteed in vegetable oil.
Ghanaian fried rice is one of the more contemporary dishes and can be found in almost every Ghanaian restaurant. It is usually made with Jasmine rice, long grain, or basmati rice. The rice is stir-fried with vegetables(carrots, spring onions, peas, green and red bell peppers), eggs, meats of choice(chicken, beef, shrimp), and spices like chili, curry powder, and salt. The sauces mixed with Ghanaian fried rice are usually soy sauce and chicken broth.
Nigerian fried rice is made with long-grain rice, diced fried cow liver (optional) or shrimp, protein ( chicken, pork, or shrimp), vegetables (such as carrots, peas, green beans, onions, and chillies), herbs and spices (such as thyme, pepper, and curry powder), and so on. This dish was created by the Yoruba people and spread as a Nigerian staple.
Tanzania fried rice is made with long-grain rice, protein (such as beef liver, chicken, or shrimp), vegetables (such as carrots, peas, green beans, onions, and chillies), herbs and spices (such as thyme, pepper, and curry powder), and so on.
Ghanaian Fried rice
Beef fried rice topped with a sunny side up egg
Szechwan fried rice is an Indo-Chinese dish
Cheolpan-bokkeum-bap on iron griddle
Kimchi-bokkeum-bap, the most popular Korean fried rice
Fuk gin caau faan, Hokkien fried rice
Jyun joeng caau faan, Hong Kong-style “mandarin ducks” fried rice
Khao phat, Thai fried rice
Khao phat kaeng khiao wan, green curry fried rice
Khao phat kaphrao, Thai fried rice with holy basil
Khao phat pu, Thai fried rice with crab meat
Korean-Chinese fried rice with jajang sauce
Nasi goreng with salted fish and egg
Nasi goreng istimewa, special fried rice
Javanese-Surinamese nasi goreng in The Netherlands
Nasi goreng pattaya, Malaysian omelette rice
Nigerian fried rice with fish, salad and steamed bean pudding
Omurice (Japanese omelette rice) with fried rice inside
Taiwanese fried rice
Filipino sinangag with cashews
Filipino tosilog breakfast with tocino and longganisa