Fried rice facts for kids

Arroz chaufa, a type of Peruvian fried rice

Korean kimchi-bokkeum-bap

Fried rice is a yummy dish made from cooked rice that's been quickly cooked (or stir-fried) in a wok or frying pan. It's usually mixed with other tasty ingredients like eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. People often eat fried rice by itself or as a side dish with other foods.

This dish is super popular in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of South Asia. At home, fried rice is often made using leftovers from other meals. This is why there are so many different ways to make it! It's a clever way to use up food, just like with fried noodles or pyttipanna in other parts of the world.

Many famous types of fried rice have their own special ingredients. For example, in China, there's Yangzhou fried rice and Hokkien fried rice. In Japan, chāhan is a popular kind of fried rice that came from Chinese recipes. Korea has bokkeum-bap, which means "fried rice," and there's even a Korean-Chinese version.

In Southeast Asia, you'll find nasi goreng in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and khao phat in Thailand. These are all very popular. Even in Western countries, many restaurants have created their own fried rice dishes, like egg fried rice for vegetarians. You can also find unique fried rice dishes in countries south of the United States, such as Ecuadorian chaulafan, Peruvian arroz chaufa, Cuban arroz frito, and Puerto Rican arroz mamposteao.

Fried rice is also a common street food in Asia. In some countries, you'll see small restaurants, street vendors, and even traveling hawkers who specialize in making fried rice. In Indonesia, it's common for vendors to move through the streets with their food carts, stopping in busy areas or neighborhoods to sell their delicious fried rice. Many street food stalls in Southeast Asia offer fried rice with different toppings and side dishes you can choose from.

How to Make Fried Rice

The main ingredient for fried rice is, of course, cooked rice. People often use leftovers for this! You can add many other ingredients, like:

Vegetables
Eggs
Meat (like chicken, beef, or pork)
Preserved meats (like bacon, ham, or sausage)
Seafood (like fish, shrimp, or crab)
Mushrooms

To add more flavor, people often use onions, shallots, scallions, and garlic. Different cooking oils, such as vegetable oil, sesame oil, or lard, are used to cook the rice and add flavor.

Fried rice can be seasoned with salt, different kinds of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and other spices. For a nice finish, popular toppings include chopped scallions, sliced chili, fried shallots, parsley or coriander leaves, toasted sesame seeds, seaweed flakes (like gim or nori), sliced cucumber, tomato, lime, or pickled vegetables.

Types of Fried Rice Around the World

Fried rice is made differently in many countries, creating unique and delicious versions.

East Asian Fried Rice

Chinese Fried Rice

Yángzhōu chǎofàn in Hong Kong, a very popular Chinese fried rice

Chinese fried rice is a general term for many styles.
- Canton (or Wui Fan) is a Cantonese style often served with a thick gravy poured over it.
- Hokkien (or Fujian) fried rice comes from the Fujian region. It has a thick sauce mixed over it, which can include mushrooms, meat, and vegetables.
- Szechwan fried rice is a spicy stir-fried rice from Sichuan. It uses doubanjiang chili sauce with garlic, green onions, and red onion.
- Yin Yang Fried Rice has two different sauces on top. One side usually has a savory white sauce, and the other has a red tomato sauce. Sometimes, the sauces are arranged to look like the yin-yang symbol.
- Yeung chow (or Yangzhou) fried rice is one of the most famous. It has lots of shrimp, scrambled egg, and barbecued pork. Many Chinese restaurants simply call it "special fried rice."

Japanese Fried Rice

Chāhan, a Japanese-Chinese fried rice dish

Chāhan (チャーハン) or Yakimeshi (焼飯) is a Japanese version of Chinese fried rice. It's made to suit Japanese tastes, often with katsuobushi (dried fish flakes) for flavor and many other ingredients.
Omurice is fried rice wrapped inside a fluffy egg omelette. The fried rice usually has vegetables and meat mixed in, and tomato sauce is often added on top.

Korean Fried Rice

Bokkeum-bap (볶음밥) simply means "fried rice" in Korean. It's made by stir-frying cooked rice with other ingredients in oil. Many types of fried rice are common in Korean cuisine, often made with whatever ingredients are available. In Korean restaurants, fried rice is a popular dish to order at the end of a meal. After eating main dishes cooked on a tabletop stove, people often add cooked rice, seaweed flakes, and sesame oil directly into the leftover sauce, stir-fry it, and brown it.
- Kimchi-bokkeum-bap (김치볶음밥) is a very popular type of bokkeum-bap. It's made with kimchi and other ingredients.

Southeast Asian Fried Rice

Cambodian Fried Rice

Bai cha is a Cambodian style of fried rice. It includes diced sausage, garlic, soy sauce, and herbs. It's usually eaten with meat.

Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean Fried Rice

Indonesian nasi goreng with chicken, fried egg, prawn cracker and vegetables

Nasi goreng is a famous Indonesian and Malay version of fried rice. The main difference is that it's cooked with sweet soy sauce (kecap manis). It often comes with extra items like a fried egg, fried chicken, satay, and spicy sauces like sambal. It's popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and even the Netherlands.
- Nasi goreng pattaya is Malaysian fried rice wrapped inside an egg omelette, similar to Japanese Omurice. It usually has vegetables and meat mixed into the fried rice, and tomato sauce is added. In Indonesia, it's called nasi goreng amplop.
- Sambal fried rice is found in Singapore. It's made with sambal, a spicy sauce based on chilis and belachan (shrimp paste), influenced by Indonesian and Malay cooking.

Myanmar Fried Rice

Burmese fried rice (ထမင်း‌ကြော်, htamin gyaw) usually uses Burmese fragrant short-grain rice. A simple version has rice, boiled peas, onions, garlic, and dark soy sauce. It might be served with ngapi kyaw (fried fish paste) and fresh cucumber mixed with onions, green chili, and vinegar.

Filipino Fried Rice

Sinangag, Filipino garlic fried rice, with Spam and fried egg

Bagoong rice is a type of Filipino fried rice that uses shrimp paste as its main flavor. Meat, scallions, and green mangoes can be added. It tastes best when eaten with Binagoongan dishes (dishes cooked with shrimp paste).
Sinangág is Filipino garlic fried rice. It's made by stir-frying garlic with rice and seasoning it with salt and pepper. While vegetables and meats can be added, it's often kept plain so it doesn't overpower the flavor of the meat dish it's served with. Sinangág is a key part of Filipino breakfast meals like tapsilog.

Thai Fried Rice

Khao phat amerikan, American fried rice

Thai fried rice (ข้าวผัด, Khao Phat) tastes very different from common Chinese fried rice, mostly because it uses jasmine rice. It also has different additions. It's usually served with sliced cucumber and prik nam pla, a spicy sauce made from Thai chili, fish sauce, and chopped garlic. Thai fried rice is typical of central Thai cuisine. It usually has meat (chicken, shrimp, and crab are common), egg, onions, garlic, and sometimes tomatoes. There are many regional versions, like Coconut Fried Rice, Pineapple Fried Rice, and Basil Fried Rice.
- American fried rice (ข้าวผัดอเมริกัน, Khao Phat Amerikan) is a Thai invention. It uses hot dogs, fried chicken, and eggs as side dishes or mixed into the fried rice with ketchup. It was first served to U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War and is now very popular across Thailand.

Vietnamese Fried Rice

Cơm chiên is a Vietnamese version of Chinese fried rice. It includes diced sausage, stirred eggs, soy sauce, and onions.

South Asian Fried Rice

Indian Fried Rice

Rice and curry is a popular dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. It's made with fried or steamed rice and other ingredients.
Curry fried rice is regular fried rice mixed with curry powder for a spicier flavor.

Nepalese Fried Rice

Bhuteko bhat (भुटेको भात) is a Nepalese version of fried rice. It's usually eaten with Achar (pickles), but curry and dhal (lentil soup) can also be served with it.

Sri Lankan Fried Rice

Nasi goreng in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan fried rice (ෆ්රයිඩ් රයිස්) is a Sri Lankan version of the Chinese dish. However, basmati rice is used, and Sri Lankan spices are added for a unique taste.

Pacific Fried Rice

Hawaiian Fried Rice

Hawaiian fried rice is a common style of fried rice in Hawaii. It usually has egg, green onions, peas, cubed carrots, and either Portuguese sausage or Spam, or both! Sometimes, kimchi is added. It's normally cooked in sesame oil.

Fried Rice in the Americas

In Spanish-speaking countries, "Arroz frito" means "fried rice." They often add words to describe the Chinese-inspired types, like "arroz chino" or "arroz cantonés." There are also local specialties like "arroz chaufa" or "arroz frito tres delicias."

Ecuadorian Fried Rice

Chaulafan is the name for Chinese fried rice in Ecuador. In Ecuador and Peru, dark soy sauce is often used in fried rice. Common meats include pork, beef, chicken, or seafood like shrimp.

Cuban Fried Rice

Arroz frito, Cuban-Chinese fried rice

Arroz frito (Cuban fried rice) is very similar to "special fried rice." You can find it alongside traditional Cuban dishes in many Cuban restaurants. This dish often includes ham, grilled pork, shrimp, chicken, and eggs, along with various vegetables. Some restaurants might even add lechón (Cuban-style roasted pig), lobster, or crab. Chinese Cubans helped bring this dish to Cuba.

Peruvian Fried Rice

Arroz chaufa is a popular name for Chinese fried rice in Peru. It's part of the chifa cuisine, which is a mix of Chinese and Peruvian cooking. In Chile, it's called arroz chaufán. The most common types use similar ingredients to Chinese fried rice. Some unique versions might use dried meat, beef tongue, alligator, or lizard instead of traditional meats. In some areas, the rice is replaced with quinoa or pearled wheat, or mixed with noodles. Aeropuerto is a large Peruvian arroz chaufa dish that includes fried noodles and many other additions.

Puerto Rican Fried Rice

Arroz mampostea[d]o or arroz frito Yakimeshi is fried rice in Puerto Rico. It was brought to the island by Chinese and Japanese immigrants. It's usually made with leftover rice and common Asian ingredients like soy sauce, mixed with popular Puerto Rican ingredients like beans.