A fusion fried rice recipe taking ingredients and techniques from Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese cooking to create an indulgent fried rice with truffle oil, Chinese sausage, and pickled ginger.
- Prep Time:
15 mins - Cook Time:
10 mins - Total Time:
25 mins
Fusion Fried Rice
So, fusion fried rice isn’t really a thing. I made it up.
However, given that this fried recipe uses a little bit from several Asian fried rices, it seemed liked an apt label. There’s short-grain rice from Japanese fried rice, dried sausage from Chinese fried rice, and oyster sauce from Vietnamese fried rice. Then there’s the truffle oil which isn’t typical at all but works so well here.
What kind of rice to use for fried rice
For this recipe, I like to use short-grain Japanese rice (the same kind of rice used for sushi). The extra starchiness of the short-grain rice gives this fried rice a chewier texture which goes well with the Chinese sausage. However, if long-grain rice is what you’ve got on-hand, by all means, go with that.
I should also note that long-grain rice is easier to fry with because it doesn’t tend to clump together as much as short-grain. If this is your first time making fried rice, you may want to consider using long-grain rice until you’re comfortable with the process and then moving on to short-grain rice.
Leftover rice vs freshly cooked rice
Although it is commonly believed that cold day-old or leftover fried rice is better for making fried rice than freshly cooked rice, it’s not exactly true. The important factor is to use rice that is slightly dry to prevent the rice from becoming mushy when fried.
Leftover rice stored in the refrigerator will become dry enough after 12 hours. You can get about the same level of dryness by spreading freshly cooked rice in a thin layer on a plate or sheet pan and letting it cool for 5-10 minutes. Kenji Lopez-Alt goes into great detail about this if you want to read more on the Serious Eats website.
Substitution for truffle oil
Truffle oil adds a really great and unique flavor to this fried rice but truffle oil isn’t cheap. For a more affordable (yet still delicious) alternative, you can replace the truffle oil in the recipe with 1-2 tablespoons of sesame oil instead and then skip the pickled ginger. The taste will be closer to a “traditional” fried rice. If you’re still wanting something indulgent, a fried egg on top is always a good option.
Truffle Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Asian
Description
A fusion fried rice recipe taking ingredients and techniques from Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese cooking to create an indulgent fried rice with truffle oil, Chinese sausage, and pickled ginger.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil, divided
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 2 tablespoons finely minced or grated ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 3 teaspoons)
- 1 cup diced Chinese sausage
- 4 cups cooked short-grain rice (see Notes 1 and 2)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1/4 cup black truffle oil (see Note 3)
- 1–2 tablespoons chopped pickled ginger
Instructions
- Prep eggs. Season beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Prep sauce. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
- Cook eggs. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beaten eggs and cook breaking them into smaller pieces with a spatula until just cooked through. Transfer eggs back to bowl and set aside. Wipe out skillet.
- Cook aromatics and sausage. Heat the pan over medium heat, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, scallions, ginger, garlic, and Chinese sausage. Sauté until fragrant and sausage is heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Cook rice. Turn heat up to high and add rice. Cook, scooping and mixing the rice mixture, for 1-2 minutes until rice is warmed through.
- Add sauce. Drizzle soy sauce mixture evenly over rice. Continue cooking the rice, using a scooping and mixing motion, until rice is evenly coated, about 1-2 minutes. Season rice with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add eggs. Add scrambled eggs back into the pan and cook for 1 minute more.
- Finish. Remove pan from heat. Stir in truffle oil and pickled ginger. Serve hot.
Notes
- If using leftover rice, remove it from the fridge and break up any large clumps before frying. If making a fresh batch of rice, spread it on a sheet pan and let it cool for 5-10 minutes to let the rice dry out some before frying.
- You can also use long-grain rice. The texture of the fried rice will be a little less chewy than when using a short-grain rice.
- You can replace the truffle oil with 1-2 tablespoons sesame oil and skip the pickled ginger.
- Recipe adapted from Ryla restaurant via Kikkoman.
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