Vegan and vegetarian fried rice fried rice’s colour, taste, and balanced mixture of delightful ingredients make it the preferred preparation for most people.
Since its origins in China, fried rice has reached every corner and acquired the local flavours of each country. It is one of those dishes with thousands of versions.
Fried rice in the world
Fried rice’s core ingredients are rice, vegetables, meat, and eggs, all seasoned with soy and fish sauces. They are stir-fried in a wok or big frying pan until they get a crispy texture.
Rice is the principal component of fried rice. Its blank flavour makes it possible to pair this dish with any ingredient. Thus, it can be combined with local components and tastes of any region.
There is at least one type of fried rice in each country based on the original Chinese preparation.
Classic Chinese fried rice includes rice, pork, shrimp, vegetables, and eggs. More traditional variations have bamboo shoots, chicken, sea cucumber, and scallops.
Most fried rice versions are based on the classic Chinese recipe and adapt to the local ingredients. Some of the fried rice types in the world are:
- Vietnamese fried rice (Cơm chiên) contains rice, diced sausage, eggs, and onions cooked in soy sauce.
- Peruvian Fried Rice (Arroz Chaufa) is a Latin-American variation with common ingredients like rice, chicken, carrots, peas, and eggs stir-fried in sesame oil. Check the following link to check https://carolinarice.com/recipes/arroz-chaufa/ for the complete ingredients and preparation.
- Hawaiian fried rice includes rice, vegetables, and pieces of ham and pineapple for a sweet taste.
Vegan and vegetarian fried rice
Fried rice is so versatile, diverse and rich that even there are vegan and vegetarian variations. They are equally delicious as the meaty version. They are just as delicious as the meaty version. The perfect combination of vegetarian ingredients means that the flavour of the meat is not necessary.
Making vegan or vegetarian fried rice does not mean that you take out the meat and that is. These fried rice dishes are more than that. Just check the different types you can prepare of this delicious Chinese-origin preparation:
Vegan Fried Rice (no eggs)
It is a colourful dish made of brown rice, garlic, green onion, and carrots. Soy sauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, garlic sauce, and sesame oil give the typical fried rice taste. The additional crispy flavour is given by a topping of baked tofu pieces.
Cauliflower Fried Rice
It is a dish loaded with flavoursome and tender vegetables like green peas, onions, carrots, and cauliflower. It is seasoned with gluten-free soy sauce and black pepper and topped with sesame seeds.
Fried rice with broccoli and mushrooms
This is a flavour-rich recipe with mushrooms, peanuts, and broccoli. It is seasoned with soy sauce and served with lime wedges, crushed peanuts, and sliced cucumber.
Pineapple fried rice
It is sweet vegan fried rice. It includes onion, garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, corn, green, peas, and pineapple seasoned with sriracha and soy sauce. It is served with chopped peanuts, chopped green, and sesame.
Baked fried brown rice
It is a fresh recipe with brown rice, edamame, green onions, raw cashew pieces, and pineapple cooked in sesame oil, soy sauce, and sriracha (caution! it’s really a hot sauce).
Vegan Thai coconut and pineapple fried rice
This exotic dish contains coconut milk, pineapple, Thai red curry paste, roasted cashew, onion, ginger-garlic, spring onion, carrots, green beans, red chilli flakes, soy sauce, lime juice, and coriander leaves to season it.
The preparations of all these recipes are pretty easy and involve the same procedure:
- Use leftover rice.
- In a wok or frying pan, add the preferred oil (sesame oil, vegetable, oil, canola oil, peanut oil, etc).
- Stir-fry each ingredient. Give a quick stir-fry because they need to be crunchy.
- Pour soy sauce (and sriracha) into small batches until you get the expected flavour.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Serve with the preferred toppings.
You can take the recipes as inspiration and create your version of fried rice. Even if you find a non-vegetarian recipe, you can easily turn it into a vegan/vegetarian dish. Take out the meat, include more veggies, and give it additional flavours by seasoning it with soy sauce, sriracha, coconut milk, or various sauces or spices.
Any leftover rice? have a go at my vegan rice pud!
