Vegan Egg Fried Rice
Egg fried rice is a staple of Chinese take out food. It was invented as a way to use up the leftover steamed rice from the day before.
I love making fried rice at home as its so easy and can be made really delicious with the right seasoning combination.
Not only does fried rice prevent the leftovers going to waste it can also be an excellent way of using any leftover vegetables or protein you have on hand. I usually make fried rice at the end of the week with all of the odds and ends left in the fridge.
Usually egg fried rice is made by frying the vegetables and rice and cracking some eggs to scramble in there but we don’t eat eggs around here so we replace the eggs with scrambled tofu.
Flavoring the tofu with black salt and coloring with turmeric gives the perfect vegan egg to add to this dish for some protein.
Serve this up as part of a Chinese inspired feast for your friends or a quick and easy meal by itself when you want dinner on the table in 15 minutes flat.
The best rice for fried rice
The best rice to use is some day old steamed rice from cooking the day before, its a drier texture than freshly cooked rice so this stops it from clumping together. You get nice, separated grains. If you don't have day old fried rice you can use pre cooked packet rice instead.
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You'll love this vegan fried rice because its...
Quick – This fried rice can be made in under 15 minutes and can be a full meal when adding vegetables in. So dinner can be on the table as quickly as possible!
No waste- This recipe is perfect for using up any leftover vegetables in your fridge- you really can put any vegetables and protein so make this at the end of the week when you have half an onion and a quarter of a broccoli leftover with no plans.
Take out flavour- You can make takeout quality food at home with the right seasonings. I highly recommend buying some MSG to give your Chinese food that added extra savoury flavour that takeouts always have.
Cheap- All you need is yesterdays rice, a block of tofu and you can even use frozen veg. Then season with pantry staples. A super cheap yet nutritious meal that doesn’t lack on flavour.
Rice reheating- For food safety it is only recommended that rice is reheated once only after the first initial cook. Therefore fried rice is not suitable to reheat again!
Notes on the ingredients-
- Cooked rice – The best rice for fried rice is cooked rice from the day before. You could also use pre cooked packet rice if you don’t have any leftover rice.
- Tofu- Extra firm tofu is great for crumbling and holding its shape in fried rice. This replaces the egg in this no egg fried rice. You could also use firm or medium tofu if you like.
- Oil- A neutral oil such as sunflower or vegetable oil is best.
- Light soy sauce- Light soy sauce is great for a little flavor without being overly rich like dark soy sauce.
- Minced garlic – You can use minced garlic from a jar or fresh minced garlic for this.
- MSG – Msg will give that iconic savoury takeout flavour. You can replace with salt but the dish will taste less like a takeout.
- Turmeric powder- Turmeric is just for colouring the egg, you can leave this out if you like.
- Black salt- Black salt tastes and smells like egg. This will give the eggy flavor to your tofu fried rice.
How to make leftover rice fried rice
- Crumble the tofu into the pan
- Add turmeric and black salt, fry until combined
- Set aside
- Add some oil and diced onion
- Soften the onion then add the garlic
- Add the rice
- Add the soy sauce and msg
- Add the cooked tofu
- Serve and enjoy
No egg fried rice
Ingredients
- 200 g Cooked rice
- 150 g Tofu
- ½ onion
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp msg
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp black salt
Instructions
- Crumble the tofu into small pieces and fry in a large pan.
- Sprinkle on the turmeric and black salt, turn off the heat and stir to coat the tofu pieces.
- Set the tofu aside.
- Dice the onion up as small as you can.
- Add a tablespoon of oil to the same pan and fry the onion until soft.
- Next add the garlic.
- Then add the rice along with another tablespoon of oil and stir fry on high heat.
- Now add soy sauce, salt and MSG to season and cook until the rice has dried out.
- Add the tofu and stir fry together.
- Serve topped with sesame seeds and spring onion.
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