Recipe - Chicken Fried Rice For One
I would argue that I have never made myself the same stir-fry twice...
Hi friend! This recipe sits beside the Episode 13 of the HOW TO EAT ALONE podcast, which will be published this Sunday 21st May, so you now have a couple of days to gather your ingredients if you’d like to cook/eat along whilst listening.
I would say that, as someone who predominately cooks for herself, I make some kind of rice fried dish, on average, three times per week. The beautiful thing about a little stir fried situation is that protein, veggies, the kind of rice AND the seasoning/sauce are eternally on rotation, so I would argue that I have never made myself the same fried rice dish twice. But the outcome is always the same, from hungry to not hungry in under 30 minutes, with minimum effort required. In podcast Episode 13, I speak to photographer Linnea Bullion, who explains that her solo-cooking kitchen hack is to always have ‘chicken on hand,’ so that she can throw it into anything she might be cooking for herself and names chicken fried rice as one of her solo-staples. Chicken fried rice works so well for the solo cook because it is best (and traditionally) made with leftover rice, so if you’re someone who always makes too much rice (which is 99% of people), this is a great dish for you. Here’s how I make mine, feel free to swap out the veggies or the protein for things that you have lying around in your fridge/fancy eating. I would also always recommend frying an egg and slapping it on the top of your rice. Bon app!
Time: 15 - 30 minutes (depending on whether you are using leftover rice and chicken)
Makes: Enough stir fried rice for one person
Plant Based Options: Swap out the chicken for something not chicken!
Faff Level: 1
Ingredients:
70 g dried rice or 175 g cooked rice
100 g chicken, shredded (swap this for tofu if you’re veggie/vegan)
1 small carrot, ideally cubed (all vegetables can be swapped out for a more desirable vegetable, just make sure you keep the amounts kind of the same).
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
50 g frozen peas
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice, if you have it
Glug of soy sauce
Glug of sesame oil
1/2 lemon
Splash of rice vinegar
Salt and pepper
Directions:
If you aren’t using leftovers, cook your rice and chicken.
Once your chicken and rice are cooked, put to the side. Lightly fry garlic and 5 spice for a couple of minutes, then add carrots and spring onion. Fry on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until carrots begin to go soft.
Add rice, chicken and peas and soy sauce to the vegetables and fry for a further 7(ish) minutes on a medium heat.
When everything is cooked, add your glug of sesame oil, rice vinegar, lemon and s&p.
If you’re fancy, add a fried egg to the top of your rice for maximum stir fry pleasure.