Leftover fried rice

The handler for yesterday's rice. Cold rice, a very hot pan, eggs, frozen peas and carrots, and soy sauce poured around the edge so it sizzles. Ready in about ten minutes once the pan is hot.

yield: Serves 2 to 3
active: 15 min
total: 15 min
oven: not needed

Posted September 15, 2026

Ingredients

500 g (about 3 cups) cooked rice, cold, ideally a day old
2 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable, canola, or peanut), divided
2 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 scallions, whites and greens sliced separately
130 g (1 cup) frozen peas and carrots, no need to thaw
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, more to taste
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
White or black pepper

Method

Break up the cold rice with your hands so there are no clumps. Put every ingredient next to the stove before you start: this cooks fast.
Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat until very hot. Add 1 tbsp oil, then the eggs. Scramble just until set, about 30 seconds, and move them to a plate.
Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil, the garlic, and the scallion whites. Stir for 30 seconds. Add the peas and carrots and stir-fry 2 minutes.
Add the rice. Spread it out and leave it alone for 1 minute so some grains toast, then toss. Repeat two or three times, about 4 minutes total.
Pour the soy sauce around the hot edge of the pan, not onto the rice, and toss. Return the eggs, breaking them up.
Off the heat, stir in the sesame oil, scallion greens, and pepper. Taste, add more soy if needed, and serve.

Notes

Fresh rice is too moist and turns mushy. If it is all you have, spread it on a tray and refrigerate it uncovered for an hour first.
Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate it within an hour or two of cooking. Use it within a day or two.

fried-rice.sh31 lines, do not run

#!/usr/bin/env bash# fried-rice.sh: the leftover-rice handler. serves 2 to 3.if [[ ! -f fridge/rice.yesterday ]]; then  echo "warning: fresh rice detected. expect mush." >&2  echo "hint: spread on a tray, chill uncovered 1h, rerun." >&2fimise --en-place --strict    # this runs fast. nothing gets chopped mid-run.crumble rice --no-clumpsheat wok --level high --until very-hotoil add 1tbspscramble eggs:2 --for 30s && move eggs --to plateoil add 1tbspadd garlic scallion-whites; stir --for 30sadd peas-and-carrots --frozen; stir-fry --for 2madd ricefor pass in 1 2 3; do  spread rice; sleep 60   # leave it. this is where the flavor comes from.  toss ricedonedrizzle soy-sauce:1.5tbsp --around-edge   # the hot metal does the workreturn eggs --broken-upheat offadd sesame-oil:1tsp scallion-greens peppertaste | grep -q "needs soy" && drizzle soy-sauce --splashserve

# The script is the joke. The ingredients and method are the recipe.