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Refrigerator Fried Rice

RefrigeratorFried Rice is all about taking the odds and ends in your refrigerator andturning them into a completely new meal.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: American
Calories: 400
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups cooked chilled rice
  • 1½ cups precooked pulled pork chopped into small pieces
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup mixed vegetables chopped small
  • ½ cup corn or peas
  • 2 green onions sliced
  • 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil divided
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger optional
  • Black pepper to taste
Optional:
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • Sriracha or other hot sauce
  • Sesame seeds
  • Additional green onions

Method
 

  1. Prepare your ingredients first. Fried rice cooks quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before you turn on the skillet.
  2. Heat a large skillet or electric skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil.
  3. Add the eggs and scramble gently until just cooked. Transfer them to a plate.
  4. Add the remaining ½ tablespoon sesame oil to the skillet.
  5. Add the garlic, ginger, and vegetables. Stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, until the vegetables are heated through and beginning to soften.
  6. Add the chopped pulled pork and cook for another 2 minutes.
  7. Add the cold cooked rice. Stir and toss everything together, breaking up any clumps of rice.
  8. Pour the soy sauce around the edge of the hot skillet and stir it into the rice mixture.
  9. Return the cooked eggs to the skillet and stir everything together.
  10. Add the green onions and a splash of rice vinegar, if desired.
  11. Taste and adjust the soy sauce or seasonings as needed.
  12. Serve hot.

Notes

🧺 Kitchen Confidence
This Week's Skill: Learning to Cook Without a Recipe
This might be the most important kitchen skill of the entire week.
A recipe is a guide, not a set of handcuffs.
Once you understand the basic technique, you can look into your refrigerator and make substitutions based on what you actually have. The vegetables don't have to be the same ones listed here. The protein doesn't have to be pork. You don't even need meat.
The trick is to cut everything into similar-sized pieces and add ingredients according to how long they need to cook.
That's cooking.