11 June, 2022
Emergency “Dump ‘n Bake” Fried Rice
Posted in : Main Course on by : chef Tags: Chinese, Rice
A low-effort, one pan, seasoned rice that’s similar to wok-tossed fried rice!
Emergency “Dump ‘n Bake” Fried Rice
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Baked Fried Rice
- 1 1/2 cups Long Grain White Rice uncooked, Note 1
- 2 cups Chicken or Veg Stock low sodium
- 1 1/2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine dry sherry, mirin or sake, Note 3
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced with crusher straight into pan
- 2 cups Frozen Diced Vegetables carrots, peas, corn mix. Note 4 fresh vegetables
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper sub for black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups Uncooked Bacon or Ham chopped, Note 5
Finishing
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1/2 cup Green Onion finely sliced, 2-3 stems
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
- Mix ingredients in baking dish: Place all Baked Fried Rice ingredients except bacon in a baking dish (~22 x 32cm / 9 x 13"). Stir, then spread rice evenly across pan.
- Top with bacon: Scatter bacon across surface.
- Bake covered 40 min: Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes.
- Bake uncovered 15 min: Remove foil. Bake uncovered 15 minutes – this will colour the bacon. Liquid should be absorbed, rice should be cooked (but will seem wet, will absorb and soften while resting).
- Rest 10 min: Cover loosely with foil, stand for 10 minutes.
- Fluff: Add green onion and sesame oil. Fluff rice with fork, marvel at how perfectly cooked the rice grains are. Serve!
Notes
- Rice types – Best made with long grain rice because it’s the least sticky so you get that nice crumbly, fluffy fried rice texture with this “dump ‘n bake” cooking method. Other rice types that work:
- Basmati rice – same fluffy texture but you get the basmati aroma (it’s not traditional with fried rice seasoning, but it’s rather nice!)
- Medium and short grain white rice – works perfectly but the rice is a bit stickier (that’s the way it is) so don’t expect the same rice texture you see in the video (it will clump a little more).
- Jasmine rice – NOT RECOMMENDED. This rice is softer and difficult to get exactly right for this recipe.
Recipe won’t work as written for: brown rice, paella or risotto rice, wild rice, quinoa or other speciality rices. I’d need to figure out liquid/rice ratios and bake times.
No need to rinse rice first unless you’re concerned about rice cleanliness (rice in packets at grocery stores should be fine, I never rinse). If you rinse, reduce water by 2 tbsp.
- Light soy sauce – adds flavour and salt without staining the rice. Ordinary all purpose soy can also be used. Do not use dark soy sauce – flavour is too strong and sauce will be very dark.
- Chinese cooking wine – adds umami / depth of flavour which is important for this method of cooking that skips the usual “sauté garlic and onion” etc.
Best substitute – Dry sherry, followed by cooking sake, then mirin (though rice will be a touch sweeter).
Non alcoholic sub – skip it and add an extra 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce PLUS add 30g / 2 tbsp of unsalted butter with the sesame (butter compensates for loss of flavour from skipping the cooking wine). - Fresh veg – If you use fresh instead of frozen veg, add 1/4 cup of water. Required because frozen veg leech water as they cook which is factored into water/rice ratio in this dish.
- Carrots, peas, corn, onion – use in recipe as written.
- Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, zucchini, capsicum/bell peppers (chopped) – add them 30 min into bake time.
I don’t recommend: eggplant, mushrooms (they won’t colour).
- Bacon – Add it raw, it goes golden during the uncovered baking part. Fattier bacon = better golden = more flavour added into rice.
Alternatives – ham (chunky chopped, not fine slices), Chinese sausage (finely sliced), smoked sausages (like kransky, why not? 🙂 ) Turkey bacon.
Vegetarian – leave it out, or try fried tofu puffs (slice then scatter), otherwise garnish with about 1/4 cup of store bought crispy fried shallots or onion just before serving (crispy salty oily pops of goodness will add a nice hit of extra flavour!) - Pan size matters! Do not go larger – rice will dry out and won’t cook evenly. If you go much smaller (eg 20cm/8″ square) it will work ok but rice in the middle will be softer.
- Add in options: Oh, the possibilities!
- Egg – Cook separately and stir in when fluffing rice. Either scramble, or make ribbons (cook a thin omelette using 2 whisked eggs, roll it up like a cigar then finely slice)
- Cooked chicken (or other cooked protein), char siu – dice or shred, toss on top of rice when resting (residual heat will warm up), then mix through well fluffing rice.
- Raw prawns/shrimp – small ones. When you remove the foil, scatter them across the surface, pop into oven for the last 15 min uncovered bake time.
- Baby spinach or chopped spinach – Stir it through at end with fluffing rice, residual heat will make it wilt.
- Spicy! Add a squirt of sriracha or dollop of your favourite chilli paste during cooking, or stir through a big handful of chopped kimchi just before serving.
- Storage – Keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Reheat using microwave.
Make ahead – Do not assemble ahead, once rice is mixed with water, bake straight away. Best to cook then reheat (it reheats near perfectly, I make fried rice ahead all the time for gatherings).