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Thai Fried Rice Recipe, thewoksoflife.com
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4.50 from 10 votes

Thai Fried Rice

This Thai fried rice recipe, with Thai basil, scrambled egg, chilies, and fish sauce, can be made with pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp.
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Rice
Cuisine: Thai
Servings: 4
Calories: 493kcal
Author: Bill

Ingredients

For the pork:

  • 8 ounces boneless pork shoulder or pork butt cut into small ½- to ¾-inch or 1.5cm chunks
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

For the rest of the dish:

  • 5 cups cooked Thai jasmine rice
  • 3 whole Thai bird's eye chilies (for extra spice, chop one or more of them up to release the seeds)
  • 1/2 cup onion (diced)
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper (or other sweet red pepper, diced)
  • 1 cup Chinese broccoli (gai lan) (washed and roughly chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 cup Thai basil leaves
  • 1 scallion chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon hot water
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar (or dark brown sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Thai black soy sauce
  • 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 large eggs (beaten)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons neutral oil (divided)
  • 1 lime (cut into wedges, for serving; optional)
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparation:

  • In a medium bowl, combine the pork, water, cornstarch, neutral oil, and oyster sauce. Let the pork marinate while you’re preparing your other ingredients, or overnight in the refrigerator.
  • If you’re cooking raw rice, rinse the rice to remove surface starch and pour off the starchy water. This will reduce stickiness. It takes about 1¾ US cups (or about 1⅔ rice cooker cups, if you’re using the plastic measuring cup that came with your rice cooker) of uncooked rice to make 5 cups of cooked rice. Use your rice cooker, or follow our instructions for steaming rice, or cooking rice in a pot on the stove. Allow the rice to cool. If using cold leftover rice, run your hand quickly under cold water, and then use your fingers to break up any clumps of rice. (Wetting your hand prevents the rice from sticking to it.)
  • Prepare your Thai chilies, onion, peppers, and Chinese broccoli, keeping the stems and leaves separated. Also prepare your garlic, Thai basil, and scallions. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the hot water, sugar, fish sauce, Thai black soy sauce, and white pepper, until the sugar is dissolved.

Pre-cook the eggs and pork:

  • Heat your wok over high heat until lightly smoking. Add 1½ tablespoons of oil, and swirl it around so it coats the wok. Pour the beaten eggs into the center of the wok. Use a wok spatula to stir and scramble until the eggs are just cooked and a little runny around the edges. Scoop them back into the bowl and set aside (the eggs will cook again when you add them back to the wok later).
  • Heat your wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke again. Spread the remaining tablespoon of oil around the perimeter, and then add the pork to the wok in a single layer. Sear until browned on one side, about 30 seconds. Turn and sear for another 30 seconds until browned. Stir-fry to evenly cook the pork on all sides. Remove from the wok, leaving any fat behind, and set aside.

Bring It All Together:

  • Reduce the heat to low. Add the Thai chilies. Toast them in the oily wok on all sides. Then add the onions, and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Increase the heat to high, and add the red peppers and Chinese broccoli stems, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
  • Next, stir in the chopped garlic. (Adding it later in the cooking process gives the fried rice a spicier garlicky kick!) Then add the cooked rice to the wok. Mix everything together to combine, using your wok spatula in a scooping motion to toss and stir-fry the rice for 30-60 seconds, breaking up any clumps if necessary.
  • Next, pour the prepared sauce evenly over the rice, and add the Chinese broccoli leaves. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the seared pork, along with any juices. Then stir in the scrambled eggs.
  • At this point, do a taste test. You can add more of any of the seasonings we used to make the sauce to suit your tastes.
  • Next, add the Thai Basil leaves and chopped scallions. Stir fry until the Thai basil leaves are wilted. Serve with lime wedges if desired, and enjoy!

Notes

Note: You can substitute chicken, beef, or shrimp for the pork in this recipe. See our instructions for velveting each of these proteins below: 

Nutrition

Calories: 493kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 985mg | Potassium: 430mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1618IU | Vitamin C: 75mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 2mg