Roast Pork Fried Rice

Roast Pork Fried Rice is fried in hot oil with egg, bean sprouts, roast pork, garlic and white rice. The Japanese words for fried rice are chāhan or yakimeishi. Chāhan is a staple dish in Japan and is popular in restaurants and cooked in many homes across the country.

Japanese Rice Side

There are many ways to prepare fried rice and I touch on a number of them in the notes below. As long as use the basic techniques of using hot oil, making sure the rice is not moist, frying the egg first, and applying the seasoning near th\e end of cooking, you will obtain consistent and delicious results.

You can enjoy this recipe exactly as is or create your own variation. This is a dish that you will prepare over and over.

Roast Pork Fried Rice (焼豚炒飯)

Fried rice is best when prepared in a wok and fried in oil over high heat. The rice should be cooked before frying. If the rice is too moist the dish will come out mushy, but the rice can be spread out on a plate or refrigerated before frying to make sure it is sufficiently dry before frying.

I recommend using chāhan flavoring, either a paste or a powder, to infuse the rice with taste. Some people choose to use soy sauce, but the packaged fried rice flavoring provide an excellent alternative and infuse the rice with an umami (savory) taste that you will not get using soy sauce. Fried rice flavoring is available at grocery stores or online through Amazon. The paste in the recipe below can be readily purchased, it keeps for months in the refrigerator, and one can is enough for around 30 meals.

PREP	COOKING	YIELD
10 Minutes	10 Minutes	2 Servings

PREP	10 Minutes
COOKING	10 Minutes
YIELD	2 Servings

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked white rice (500g)
2 TBSP rice bran oil (peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil also works well)
1/2 clove chopped garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 lb roasted pork, diced (110g)
1 cup fresh bean sprouts (150g)
1 tsp chāhan paste or fried rice spice
1 chopped scallion (optional)

Instructions:

1 Sauté: Coat the bottom of a wok or frypan with cooking oil, preheat to high, and add the chopped garlic. Sauté for 1 minute until brown.

2 Fry: Add the egg and fry for 45-60 seconds until mostly hard

3 Mix: Mix in white rice. Fry the rice while breaking up the egg with a spoon. Cook while mixing for about a minute until the egg and rice are well combined.

4 Fry: Add in the pork and bean sprouts and continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes until well combined and the bean sprouts are hot.

5 Add: Add in the chāhan paste or fried rice powder.

6 Fry: Continue to fry for 2-3 minutes until ingredients are well combined and the fried rice is hot.

7 Serve: Serve hot. Garnish with fresh scallion or cilantro.

Notes:

Tips for making good fried rice:

Make sure the rice is firm and not mushy. If your cooked white rice is moist you can spread it out on a flat surface to dry it or put in in the refrigerator.
Use a wok if you have one or a large skillet if not. Fried rice should be cooked on a very hot flame so that the oil heats up enough to actually fry your rice.
Add a teaspoon of sesame oil as a flavoring ingredient for a very authentic Asian taste.
Use fried rice seasoning or chāhan paste to flavor your rice after frying. It is absolutely delicious but needs to be mixed in near the end of cooking to ensure that the best effect is achieved.
Although you can use any cooking oil to cook fried rice, I suggest rice bran, vegetable or canola oil. You can also use peanut oil or onion oil (negi-abura) which will complement the flavor of your dish.

Delicious Variations:

Takana Meishi – Takana, or pickled mustard leaf, is very popular in Kyushu, the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan. Takana Meishi is prepared throughout Japan and is loved by many. If you live near an Asian grocery you might be lucky enough to buy takana off the shelf, but it not you might be able to buy a Chinese version on line through Amazon. To make Takana meishi, chop 1/2 cup of takana finely. Prepare the fried rice as above, but omit the bean sprouts and roast pork and mix in 1/2 cup of chopped Takana and one teaspoon of sesame oil in its place.
Kimchi Fried Rice – prepare as Takana meishi but substitute Napa kimchi for Takana.
Egg Fried Rice – Follow the recipe above but leave out the roast pork and use two eggs instead of one.
XO Fried Rice – Follow the recipe above but add 2 TBSPs XO sauce with the roast pork and bean sprouts.
Black Soy Sauce Fried Rice – Prepare as above. After the rice and egg are cooked, move it to one side of the wok. Tilt the wok and add 2 TBSP of soy sauce. Boil it down in the tilted wok until it reduces by about a half. Stir well into the rice and continue cooking.
Other variations – Use ground beef, cooked chicken, cooked shrimp, cooked chopped squid, chopped scallops or chopped tofu in place of the roast pork. Use other chopped veggies such as carrot, green pepper, green peas, or chopped onion. Combine meat and veggies to create your own masterpiece.

Jay H

Jay is a Project Manager for a U.S. Company that does business globally. He has worked and lived in many places and has spent time learning how to cook dishes from around the world. Currently based in Japan, he created the Mountain Plums website during the Covid pandemic as a way to express himself though cooking while staying active.

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Jay H

Jay is a Project Manager for a U.S. Company that does business globally. He has worked and lived in many places and has spent time learning how to cook dishes from around the world. Currently based in Japan, he created the Mountain Plums website during the Covid pandemic as a way to express himself though cooking while staying active.