"Fried" rice can actually be healthy

Yep, you read that title correctly; fried rice can be a healthy food choice.

It's all in the way it's prepared and what you add to the rice.

I've been trying to make quality fried rice for years. I always seem to fall short with my endeavors, sometimes close to the culinary bar I've set for myself in my head, sometimes far from it.

Yesterday evening I attempted my first batch of Thai basil and vegetable fried rice. All in all the dish turned out well, if you ignore my first disastrous attempt to cook rice utilizing a new technique I saw on youtube. The rice ended up charred and burned to the bottom of the pot; a couple more minutes and the pot would have been ruined.

I've never been satisfied with the rice I cook and I'm always after the perfect form of cooked rice -- where it's fluffy, soft, and just plain perfect. I'm close, with the style I learned from Dr. Ben Kim, but I'm not quite there yet. I need to invest in a rice cooker, but that's for another blog.

Like I said, the results were overall good, but I feel the recipe needs some tinkering.

Okay, now let's talk about fried rice and how this meal can be healthy, if you make it the right way.

Fried rice is nothing more than cooked rice, either white or brown, that's "fried" in a wok or pan with vegetables, soy sauce, and other ingredients. Unfortunately, most fried rice you order at Asian restaurants is not at all healthy -- it's full of processed, chemical laced ingredients and a lot of MSG. Even hibachi Japanese restaurants -- where the chef cooks everything on a hot table before your eyes -- often miss the mark when it comes to healthy fried rice as they use way too much soy sauce.

When you make fried rice at home you have the luxury of choosing healthy ingredients and sauces. Soy sauce, for instance, can either be really bad for your health or neutral -- please read another fun and informative interview with Dr. Kim about this very subject right here. About the good stuff, here's Dr. Kim, "My understanding is that quality brands of naturally fermented soy sauce don’t have added MSG or MSG-like compounds. Cheaper brands use hydrolyzed vegetable protein, which behaves like MSG in the body."

Kikkoman soy sauce is a good brand that both Dr. Kim and I use.

Fried rice is also traditionally prepared with meats, ranging from chicken to pork to shrimp. Personally I like my fried rice with only vegetables, and a lot of them.

The rice is so flavorful and has so many other delicious things in it, as you'll see below, that you're really not missing anything.

Thai Basil and Vegetable Fried Rice

1 cup cooked rice, white or brown, per person (for two people, I prepare one cup of uncooked rice per directions listed here)
2 Tbs Kikkoman soy sauce (Note: both soy sauce and fish sauce are calculated for a serving of two people. Add 2 tsp extra for each additional cup of rice if serving more.)
2 Tbs fish sauce (this is like ketchup in Thai cooking, and it's crucial for the Thai flavor)
1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
1/2 cup carrot, finely minced
2 green onion stalks, chopped in 1/2 inch lengths
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 egg, scrambled
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn roughly
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, whole
1 Tbs raw, natural sugar
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Thai hot pepper, crushed to pieces or finely minced (or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes -- only add either ingredient if you want your rice HOT)
2 Tbs oil (many recipes I found call for vegetable oil, which is not healthy at all. I used olive oil, which worked fine, despite a few recipes warning me not to use olive oil. Coconut oil would also be good if you can find it. Actually, I plan to try coconut oil next because that will add a lot to the flavor.)
Salt and pepper, optional

Heat your wok on medium heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add both garlic and hot pepper. Stir rigourously for 1-3 seconds -- things should really be sizzling -- then add yellow onion and carrots. It's important here to NOT burn or even slightly brown the garlic. Adding the onion and carrots will slow the cooking.

Add sugar. It will dissolve and mix into the ingredients almost instantly.

Continue to stir until onions shrink and turn translucent. Push everything to one side, or make an empty crater at the center of the wok.

Add additional oil if needed.

Crack egg over empty space and cook, stirring to scramble. When egg is fully cooked, mix garlic, hot pepper, onions, and carrots together.

Add rice. Pour in soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir until rice takes on the "fried" look. Add a little extra soy sauce if the rice is not brown enough.

Now add your salt and pepper, if using.

Stir constantly, paying close attention to the bottom of the wok. You don't want the rice to stick.

Add chopped mung bean sprouts and green onion and cook for 3-5 minutes.

Turn off heat but leave wok on burner. Add remaining ingredients, the basil and cilantro. Stir well until both are fully integrated into the rice. Then remove from heat and you're ready to serve!

I like to garnish with a little extra cilantro on top. You can also add a lime wedge and some raw, cool cucumber slices. Both additions are great if you like your Thai fried rice extra spicy.

- - -

This is exactly how I made my first batch. Ordinarily I'd wait to share the recipe until I've made it two or three times and honed it down, but I was so satisfied with this that I'm comfortable in sharing it.

Here is what I plan to add next time:

One red bell pepper, sliced into thin, long strips
1 medium tomato, cut into 2-inch pieces

I intend to add the bell pepper with the initial onion and carrot, and the tomato with the green onion near the end.

Josh
Co-Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com