Another one of my "go-to" dinners that is ready in 20-minutes only. Super simple fried rice with carrots, frozen peas and some tamari sauce.
Chose the right ingredients
- Rice: to be able to make this recipe in only 20 minutes, you need to choose a rice that has a cooking time of about 10 minutes.
- Tamari sauce: just like soy sauce, tamari sauce is made from fermented soy. The only difference is that it does not contain added wheat, making it 100% gluten free.
- Vegetable broth: you can use any type of vegetable broth you like. I recommend homemade one (always keep some in the freezer) or if you buy it in store, look for the ones in a glass jars. These usually (double check to be sure) contain less additives and flavor enhancers compared to dehydrated broth cubes.
Tips to make the perfect fried rice
I have 2 tips that make this recipe go from boring to amazing, so read carefully:
- Cook your rice in vegetable broth: this simple trick will give the entire dish a lot more flavor in comparison to rice cooked in water.
- Add some sesame oil: when frying the onions and the carrots, I like to combine olive oil and sesame oil to give the dish a nice Asian taste. I like to mix both as sesame oil has a quite strong flavor and we don't want it to dominate.
I must admit I do not cook Asian inspired dishes very often. Which is also why I don't have most of the ingredients used for that type of cuisine in my pantry (I'm talking about rice vinegar, miso paste, etc.). But having a small bottle of sesame oil and adding a tiny bit to this dish just does the trick for me. It's also really nice in salad dressing and marinades (even for vegetables).
More easy dinner ideas
The Recipe
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20-min Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 small onions
- Olive oil
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 320 g rice* with a cooking time of 10 minutes
- 400 ml vegetable broth** or 1 bouillon cube + 400 ml water
- 500 g frozen sliced carrots
- 400 g frozen peas
- 4 tablespoon tamari sauce***
Optional
- 3 tablespoon (black) sesame seeds
- 2 spring onions
- chicken breast or sliced beef if not vegan
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion.
- Heat a large saucepan with olive oil. When hot, sauté the onion over medium heat until transparent.
- Add the sesame oil and the rice to the pan. Cover with vegetable broth. Cook over medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated.
- Add the frozen peas, carrots and the tamari sauce. Stir and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Verify that the rice is cooked. If not, add a splash of water and simmer until cooked.
- Optionally top with some (black) sesame seeds and spring onions. If not vegan, serve with chicken that you previously cut in pieces and cooked in a separate pan.
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