What to Eat With Fried Rice?

Fried rice is an Asian dish that is packed with veggies like carrots, green onions, peppers, and scrambled eggs and makes a hearty meal. It’s a really ready recipe to make and either, and you can prepare it at home or be willing to order it from a nearby restaurant. Whether you order vegetable fried rice or chicken fried rice, you need to pair it with some savory side dishes for amazing flavors. So, if you are wondering what to eat with fried rice, here are certain dishes that will make your meal an unforgettable one.

1. What to Serve With Fried Rice?

This Asian cuisine in itself is amazing to have but certain side dishes with the best Asian seasoning can provide variations of flavors and texture to your meal.

1.1. Egg Drop Soup

It is a perfect appetizer to serve with fried rice as it has got mild flavors and not overly filling. This Chinese cuisine is really easy to prepare and requires really less prep time. The ingredients needed for preparing egg drop soup are chicken broth, chopped chives, salt, ground ginger, cornstarch, and eggs.

You can start by reserving 3/4th cup of the chicken broth and pouring the rest of the broth into a saucepan. Then, you can stir in the chopped chives, salt,, and ginger and let it boil for a few minutes. Following that, you can stir in the 3/4th cup of the reserved chicken broth and cornstarch until the consistency is smooth.

Then, you will have to whisk eggs and egg yolk together in a bowl and then drizzle the eggs using a fork in the boiling broth. Make sure to pour little amount at a time. The eggs will cook and then pour the cornstarch mixture until you get the desired consistency in your egg drop soup. Serve your egg drop soup with vegetable fried rice and enjoy a hearty meal.

1.2. You Can Try Chicken Teriyaki

Another popular Asian dish is chicken teriyaki. This side dish is one of the best to serve with fried rice as it has got some amazing sweet flavor and smoky flavor which perfectly complement the savory flavors of your fried rice. As this delicious dish is already meaty and has a good amount of teriyaki sauce, you need to go easy on the oyster sauce. Put less amount of oyster sauce and more veggies into your fried rice.

To prepare this Asian cuisine to serve with fried rice, you can start to stir fry the chicken until they turn brown and crispy. Avoid deep frying and when the chicken is stir-fried, keep the stir-fried chicken aside. Proceed further by whisking soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, mirin, and sesame oil.

Add garlic to the pan and saute it till it turns fragrant and then, pour in the teriyaki sauce. You need to cook the sauce until the texture of the sauce thickens. Add in the Chinese broccoli and garnish green onions on your fried rice to serve.

1.3. Fried Egg

The simplest side dish to serve with fried rice is a fried egg. When you have a full veggie or chicken-loaded fried rice and you do not need much to enhance your egg fried rice or chicken fried rice, then you can just opt for a simple fried egg with a runny yolk as it will contribute to the richness of your fried rice without completely overpowering it because of its mild flavor.

1.4. Delicious Chinese Dumplings

Chinese dumplings, also known as Jiaozi are a combination of sweet, juicy, and savory flavors. It does not matter if they are chicken dumplings, shrimp dumplings, or pork dumplings, they all taste amazing with your fried rice.

To prepare this Chinese cuisine, prepare the dipping sauce first. Make sure to whisk some amount of soy sauce, rice vinegar, chives, sesame seeds, and chili sauce in a medium-sized bowl. To prepare the Chinese dumplings, mix chicken, eggs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a large-sized bowl until they are combined properly.

Take a dumpling wrapper and put the fillings inside and then crimp together to seal the dumpling. Proceed further by heating some vegetable oil in a pan and then placing the dumplings in the pan. Stir fry them in a medium flame until they are browned and the filling inside is properly cooked. Your classic Chinese takeout meal of Chinese dumplings is ready to serve with fried rice.

1.5. Hot and Sour Soup

This is one of the best Japanese soups to serve with fried rice. This popular Asian soup has got the right amount of flavors like the acidity from the vinegar and the spiciness from the red pepper used in it. The use of tofu gives this hot and sour soup a silky consistency and the carrots add just the right amount of crunchy texture to this sour soup.

To prepare this soup, start by heating some oil in a large pan and stir-frying some chili, ginger, and garlic. Then you can add spring onions and stir fry them until it softens and then keep on adding colorful vegetables like carrot, cabbage, capsicum, and beans. After they are stir-fried, add in the water, soy sauce, vinegar, chili paste, sugar, salt, and pepper powder, and let them boil.

After boiling them for around 3-4 minutes, add in the cornflour starch and continue to boil until the soup starts turning thick. Sprinkle some green onion and serve with fried rice to enjoy this delicious recipe wholeheartedly.

1.6. Enjoy Deep Fried Rolls

Egg rolls must be your go-to order in your favorite Chinese restaurant. Egg rolls are generally served as appetizers but they go really well as a side dish to serve with fried rice. The combination of ground meat, cabbage, carrots, and savory rice is enough o satisfy your taste buds.

To make these delicious egg rolls, start by bringing a pot of water to boil and put cabbage, carrots, and celery in it. After they are done boiling, you need to put them in an ice bath. Make sure to squeeze the fresh veggies properly so that it has no water content, otherwise, you will end up with a soggy egg roll.

Once the veggies are dry, you need to transfer them to a large-sized bowl. You can add salt, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, white pepper, five spice powder, ground meat, and cooked shrimp if you want. Toss them gently and your filling is ready. Wrap them up and then submerge the egg rolls in a pan of oil and deep fry them until they turn golden brown. Enjoy your deep-fried egg rolls with savory rice.

1.7. You Can Try Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork is one of the best side dishes to serve with fried rice because of the citrus-sweet flavor of its sauce which makes your whole meal extremely delightful. The ingredients that are essential for preparing this recipe are pork ribs, flour, egg, and vegetable oil.

Start by cutting the pork into pieces and then coat the pork with flour, egg, and then flour again. You have to make sure to use a high smoke oil like peanut or vegetable oil and then deep fry the pork. Then you can proceed further by stirring in celery and other veggies like bell peppers, onions perfectly seasoned with sugar and salt.

Then you can cook water, sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and salt in a saucepan and let it boil. Then you can stir in the cooked pork along with celery and pineapple chunks containing juice. After boiling them for some time, add water and cornstarch and cook until they are thickened and warm. You can enjoy this scrumptious meal at your favorite Chinese restaurant as well.

1.8. Chinese Broccoli

Chinese broccoli, also known as Gai Lan is a good Chinese food to pair with fried rice. You can serve them with fresh mushrooms as it gives a light and healthy contrast to your heavy meal. Start by steaming the Chinese broccoli and cook it for some time. Make sure that the stem is not super cooked so that they do not turn soft and floppy.

Then you can combine water and cornstarch flour in it. Add the other ingredients like garlic. ginger, vegetable and sesame oil, soy, and oyster sauce. Boil for some time and allow the mixture to thicken. Serve by drizzling the Chinese broccoli over and enjoy with your fried rice.

1.9. Gyoza

This is one of the scrumptious meals that is widely served in almost all Asian restaurants. It is a half-moon-shaped dumpling that has pork or vegetable filling inside it and it is either boiled or deep-fried. This is served with Asian seasonings such as black vinegar and sesame oil. You can enjoy this Chinese food anytime with your fried rice or leftover rice.

1.10. You Can Have Roasted Brussels sprouts

Brussels sprouts are not an Asian dish but they taste amazing with fried rice if you infuse them with Asian seasonings. The key to making your Brussels sprouts taste delicious is sesame oil. This is because this oil has got that nutty and earthy flavor that goes really well with Brussels sprouts.

You can start by heating oil in a large pan and adding your Brussels sprouts to it. Let the sprouts cook for some time until they get caramelized. After they are caramelized, you will have to add spices like kosher salt and black pepper and stir them gently. You can continue stirring them until the sprouts start turning golden brown in color.

Once the sprouts have turned into darkish golden brown color, you need to quickly remove them from the heat and then stir in some vinegar. Serve them hot and don’t forget to sprinkle some parmesan cheese, nuts, and some herbs. You can drizzle some honey too for that added sweetness in your Brussels sprouts. You can even enjoy this dish at a nearby Asian restaurant.

1.11. Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are one of the most popular appetizers and go really well with fried rice. They are basically some crispy and flaky rolls seasoned with crunchy veggies and sometimes, chicken or meat is also added in them. To prepare spring rolls, you can start by heating oil in a pan and sauteing some spring onions.

Then, you can continue by adding shredded cabbage, carrots, and capsicum. You can saute them until they are half done but still has a crunchy texture. Add soya sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper and then turn off the stove and let the veggies cool for some time. Wrap that filling in individual wrappers and seal them completely.

After they are done wrapping completely, you can heat the oil in a deep pan until the oil turns really hot. In order to check if the oil in the pan has really turned hot, you can drop some spring roll wrapper in the oil and if the wrapper rises, then be sure that the oil has turned hot enough. After confirming it, drop in the spring rolls and gently stir them while frying till they turn golden brown in color.

Once, they have turned golden brown, turn off the stove. Transfer those spring rolls to a kitchen tissue so that the extra oil gets soaked and absorbed. Serve them hot with ketchup or Schezwan sauce. alongside your fried rice and enjoy.

1.12. You Can Have Delicious Chicken Wings

The baked chicken wings are among one of the best party appetizers for a Sunday night, alongside your savory fried rice. You can bake the chicken wings instead of deep frying them. They are not only easier to make but also a bit on the healthier side. The ingredients that you need for making these mouth-watering chicken wings are chicken legs, flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

To get started with this recipe, first line up a baking sheet with foil and dot the sheet with butter. Then, you will have to take a medium-sized bowl and combine the flour and paprika. Sprinkle some garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and mix them well. After the mixture is done, you have to take each chicken wing and coat each of the wings properly.

After all the wings are properly coated, you need to place those chicken wings on the baking sheet. Make sure to bake them for around 25-30 minutes. You can flip the wings over and put them to baking for around 20 minutes. Your delicious baked chicken wings are ready to serve and you can enjoy them with a mayo dip alongside your fried rice. You can even deep fry your wings instead of baking them if you like them more. Enjoy them with your savory vegetable fried rice with friends and family.

Final Note

Fried rice is a colorful dish consisting of scrambled eggs, peppers, green onions, and carrots. It is a very delicious dish but to make this truly shine, you have got to add a few Asian seasonings. You can also add side dishes that truly complement it. The veggies with chicken shrimp and eggs make a fulfilling and heartful meal.

In this article, you have known about some lip-smacking side dishes. Some of them are completely vegan or non-vegetarian suiting everyone’s tastes and preferences. They can mix up really well to enhance the taste and flavor of the fried rice. The best part about these dishes is that they are really easy to make. They can be made with easily available ingredients, and require a really less prep time.

So, you can dig into these delicious recipes and choose the best for you. Make them and serve them with fried rice and win the hearts of the crowd with these mouth-watering recipes.

FAQs

1. Which side dishes go really nice with the stir-fry option?

The dishes that go really well with the stir-fry option are jasmine rice, steamy dumplings, or momos. You can even consider egg rolls, crock pots, coconut rice, cucumber salad, etc.

2. Is stir-frying food a really healthy method of cooking?

Yes, stir-frying is a really healthy method of cooking food as you have to add a really less amount of fat while cooking. Some people who are really health conscious completely skip deep frying in their cooking method. They generally prefer to go only for the stir-fry option.

3. Which is the healthiest way to fry food?

The healthiest way to fry food while crying is pan-frying the food. If you pan fry food, then the food might not be as crispy as the deep-fried food but the advantageous side is that the food uses less oil and as a result, is less unhealthy.

4. Which are the low-calorie cooking oil substitutes?

Certain low-calorie substitutes are chicken stock, vinegar, applesauce, oil spray, and veggie stock. They do not provide the same flavors as oil. However, they are enough to soften the meat and veggies that you are sauteing.