American fried rice facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
American fried rice

American fried rice
Alternative names	ข้าวผัดอเมริกัน
Course	Rice dish
Place of origin	Thailand
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Ketchup-fried rice, processed meat, sunny egg, raisins

American fried rice (Thai: ข้าวผัดอเมริกัน, RTGS: khao phat amerikan) is a special fried rice dish from Thailand. It mixes Thai cooking with "American" style ingredients. You'll often find things like fried chicken, ham, hot dogs, and raisins in it. It's usually cooked with ketchup-flavored rice. Sometimes, people add pineapples or croutons too!

History

American fried rice has an interesting past. There are a few different stories about how it began. Most of these stories connect to American soldiers or their culture. Here are the main ideas about its origins:

Different Stories About Its Start

• The Restaurant Manager's Idea: One story says that a woman named Khun Ying Sureepan Maneewat created it. She managed a restaurant at Don Mueang Airport in Thailand. One day, an airline flight was canceled. This left her with lots of leftover American breakfast items. These included sunny eggs, sausages, and hams. Sureepan decided to cook these leftovers with fried rice. She called it "American fried rice." The meats changed daily, depending on what was left over. She likely created it before 1954.

• The Vietnam War Connection: Another idea is that a Thai-Chinese chef named "Go Jek" made the dish. This was during the Vietnam War. He cooked it for United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force soldiers. These soldiers were stationed in Korat and Udon Thani, Thailand. For a long time, you mostly found this dish in Thailand. But now, with more Thai restaurants in the United States, American fried rice is appearing on menus there too.

• The "Mexican Rice" Theory: This idea looks at the ingredients and cooking styles. It suggests that American fried rice might be linked to a dish called "Mexican Rice" from the Southern United States. Mexican rice often has rice cooked with tomatoes or ketchup. It's also served with things like fried eggs, fried chicken, or crispy bacon. The first recipe for Mexican rice appeared in a newspaper in 1910. It was served with frankfurters. It's thought that American soldiers brought the idea of Mexican rice to Thailand during the Cold War. This "Mexican rice" then became the ancestor of American fried rice in Thailand.

See also

In Spanish: Arroz frito americano para niños