Beef fried rice is probably one of my favorite dishes on a standard Chinese takeout menu (at least when you get to the fried rice column). Stir-fried beef with onions, peas, and of course, a little wok hei is a powerful combination that is often taken for granted.
Judy would agree with me because, shortly after we met, I discovered it was her favorite fried rice dish also! (That was one of many things that sealed the deal for me!)
All kidding aside, even today, when we are traveling and in need of fresh veggies, we seek out the nearest Chinese take-out restaurant to get our fix of green vegetables and indulge in a good take-out style beef fried rice.
One topic of late on the blog is whether or not one should use MSG (Monosodium Glutamate, read more about it here). Oftentimes, part of the treat of ordering takeout is the flavor boost that comes from a little MSG.
We don’t have to tell you that MSG is still quite controversial—some say it’s fine, others say it’s a scourge on food. Just check out some comments in our egg drop soup post to see the discussion among our readers!
But as a child of two Chinese restaurant owners, I would be lying if I said that a little MSG here and there doesn’t add a great kick and that impossible-to-deny restaurant quality beef fried rice.
Adding MSG is always optional, but if you’re curious about it and you don’t have any allergies, I have to say that this beef fried rice recipe is the perfect opportunity to try adding a half teaspoon to decide for yourself.
Beef Fried Rice Recipe Instructions
Let’s get cooking!
Marinate Beef
First, combine the beef with salt, water, baking soda, dark soy sauce (mushroom flavored preferred), cornstarch, and oil in a bowl and stir until well-incorporated. Set aside. (We added a bit of water to marinate the beef, which generally is a no-no for beef…but for this fried rice dish, it keeps the small morsels of beef juicy and tender!)
For more detailed information on preparing beef just like restaurants do it, see our post on How to Prepare Beef for Stir Fry.
Prepare Sauce
Next, combine the hot water, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauces, MSG (if using), and white pepper in a small bowl. This is the sauce that you’ll be adding to the rice, and it’s much easier to have it combined and ready to go before you start cooking. If you have questions about the differences between light and dark soy sauces, be sure to check out our Chinese sauces, vinegar, and oils ingredient page.
Prep Rice
Take your cooked rice and fluff it with a fork or with your hands (you can rinse your hands in cold water if the rice starts sticking to them). If you are using cold leftover rice, try to break up the clumps as best as possible.
Scramble the Eggs
Heat your wok over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and the eggs, and scramble them until just cooked. You can start scooping them up when they look like they are almost done. Transfer them back into the same bowl you mixed them in and set aside. They will continue to cook in the bowl and you will cook them again in the rice.
Bring It All Together
Heat the wok until just smoking and spread 1 tablespoon oil around your wok. Add the marinated beef in one layer, and let sear for 20 seconds. Next, stir fry the beef until about 70% done. Transfer the beef back to the marinade bowl, and set aside.
With the wok over medium high heat, add the last tablespoon of oil. Add the onions, and sauté until translucent (about 2 minutes).
Add the rice, using a metal spatula to flatten out and break up any large clumps. If the rice is cold from the refrigerator, continue stir-frying until heated through, about 5 minutes. Also, sprinkling a little water on large clumps of rice will help break them up more easily.
(When it comes to fried rice, using leftover rice is perfectly fine and some even prefer it, but we wouldn’t survive without our trusty rice cooker. If you’re in the market for one, check out our Chinese Cooking Tools page.)
Once the rice is warmed through, add the sauce mixture. Stir the rice with a scooping motion until the grains are evenly coated with sauce. The rice should be completely hot by now.
Next, add the beef and any juices from the bowl you set aside earlier, and stir fry for another minute.
Add the eggs, breaking up any large clumps, peas, and the scallions.
Continue stir-frying for another 30 seconds. Push the rice into the middle of the wok to let the perimeter of the wok heat up. After about 20 seconds, pour 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok. Stir-fry for another 20 seconds. Adding the wine using this method gives the dish a little extra wok hei! At this point, taste the rice to see if it needs a little more salt, soy sauce, or white pepper. Re-season accordingly.
Serve your beef fried rice immediately!
If you’re like us, don’t forget some homemade chili oil with your classic Chinese take-out beef fried rice!
Classic Beef Fried Rice
Ingredients
For the beef:
- 10 ounces flank steak (285g, cut into bite-sized pieces)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (optional, but good for tougher cuts of meat)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (mushroom flavored preferred)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon MSG (totally optional!)
- Fresh ground white pepper
- 5 cups cooked rice
- 3 tablespoons canola oil (divided)
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 3/4 cup peas
- 1 scallion (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
Instructions
- First, combine the beef, salt, water, baking soda, dark soy sauce, cornstarch, and oil in a bowl and stir until well-incorporated. Set aside. (We added a bit of water to marinate the beef, which generally is a no-no for beef...but for this fried rice dish, it keeps the small morsels of beef juicy and tender!)
- Next, combine the hot water, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauces, MSG (if using), and white pepper in a small bowl. This is the sauce that you’ll be adding to the rice, and it’s much easier to have it combined and ready to go before you start cooking.
- Take your cooked rice and fluff it with a fork or with your hands (you can rinse your hands in cold water if the rice starts sticking to them). If you are using cold leftover rice, try to break up the clumps as best as possible.
- Heat your wok over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and the eggs, and scramble them until just cooked. You can start scooping them up when they look like they are almost done. Transfer them back into the same bowl you mixed them in and set aside. They will continue to cook in the bowl and you will cook them again in the rice.
- Heat the wok until just smoking and spread 1 tablespoon oil around your wok. Add the marinated beef in one layer, and let sear for 20 seconds. Next, stir fry the beef until about 70% done. Transfer the beef back to the marinade bowl, and set aside.
- With the wok over medium high heat, add the last tablespoon of oil, and sauté the onions until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the rice, using a metal spatula to flatten out and break up any large clumps. If the rice is cold from the refrigerator, continue stir-frying until the rice is warmed up, about 5 minutes. Also, sprinkling a little water on large clumps of rice will help break them up more easily.
- Once the rice is warmed through, add the sauce mixture. Stir the rice with a scooping motion until the grains are evenly coated with sauce. The rice should be completely hot by now. Next, add the beef and any juices from the bowl you set aside earlier, and stir fry for another minute.
- Add the eggs, breaking up any large clumps, peas, and the scallions. Continue stir-frying for another 30 seconds. Push the rice into the middle of the wok to let the perimeter of the wok heat up. After about 20 seconds, pour 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok. Stir-fry for another 20 seconds. Adding the wine using this method gives the dish a little extra wok hei! At this point, taste the rice to see if it needs a little more salt, soy sauce, or white pepper and season accordingly.
- Serve immediately, and, if you’re like us, don’t forget some homemade chili oil!
nutrition facts
So delicious! Added a little fresh ground pepper blend, garlic and onion powders to meat marinade. Substituted tamari for the dark soy sauce and added a few shakes of Mushroom Truffle Hunt seasoning to marinade as well. I used flap meat (carne asada) since that’s what I had on hand, cooking sherry instead of Shaoxing wine and cooked spaghetti squash in place of rice. No msg. This dish was flavorful, not overly salty and the meat was very tender. My husband raved about it! This recipe is definitely a keeper…thanks for sharing!
Hi Mari, now those are some creative substitutions :)
How much white pepper do we add? Also no fresh garlic ? It’s OK to use ground white pepper that’s not fresh?
Hi Tat, add white pepper according to your taste. I generally use a pinch or 1/8 teaspoon. We use pre-ground and fresh ground, which are both fine. The freshly ground white pepper is just coarser and more fragrant. As for fresh garlic, our recipe does not call for it, but I’m sure it would be a tasty addition.
Delicious! Made with Beef tenderloin and brown rice, that’s what I had on hand. Awesome! Doesn’t taste like pure salt like most restaurants.
Hi Linda, what a luxurious fried rice with beef tenderloin – glad you enjoyed it.
This looks awesome! Going to try it this week! Am I able to let the beef marinate overnight in the fridge before I cook it?
Hi Jonathan, marinating the beef overnight should be fine.
This was so good! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the dark soy sauce, msg, or the Shaoxing wine, but it was still delish!
Next time I’ll make sure I have all the ingredients to get those flavors spot on.
Hi Michelle, it should taste much better with the additions. Happy wokking!
Added 4 cloves garlic after the onions cooked, sauteed for 30 secs to bring out the flavor. Then added 1 ½ cups diced carrots and 1 ½ cups broccoli, stirring for ~3 mins. Then added rice and followed recipe. May need to add ¼ cup water at the end and cover for 3-5 mins to more fully cook broccoli & carrots. Overall, the carrots added texture and color to what would otherwise have been a somewhat monochromatic dish.
Hi Bob, thanks for sharing your variations – great to see you adding more veggies and making it a complete meal!
So, my husband is a very finicky eater in general and when it comes to Beef Fried Rice, no recipe or restaurant has been able to make him happy. I made this recipe and he said it was “Delicious”. Great triumph! Thank you.
PS: Can’t wait to try it with the homemade chili oil It sounds delicious too:)
Hi april, hubby’s approval (and your own) is all you need :) Keep up the fantastic cooking!
Thanks For Sharing this recipe with us.I will try this at home.
HELP! I tried to make this twice and both times, my rice ended up getting mushy after transferring to the wok. Is it better to use cooked, COLD, rice? To preventing my rice from turning into mashed rice? However, I will say the meat came out nice and tender!
Hi Ebony, using cooked cold rice definitely makes thing easier. Part of preparing the cold rice is wetting your hands and breaking the rice up. At that time, you can tell whether the rice was overcooked. The rice grains should break up easily. Another tip for preparing the rice is to use a little bit less water (10%) when cooking the rice, and then let the freshly cooked rice cool. You can also spread it out on a sheet pan to allow the moisture to evaporate before you use it. Hope that helps and happy cooking!
This is what I do – cook the rice in the morning with a little less water, spread it out on a baking sheet, and let it hang out in the oven (otherwise the dogs get to it) during the day to dry out.
I didn’t have peas but I had a head of broccoli and snowpeas. I didn’t have the dark soy but I had brewed soy and when that ran out I used coconut aminos. I mostly used sesame oil. And I added garlic and minced ginger to the onions. And I didn’t have MSG but I am not against it. It’s just not available unless I go to the Buford Highway Farmers Market (Atlanta) where you can get anything you need for any cuisine.
Oh, and I didn’t have a flank steak but I happened to have a … …a ribeye. I know! But it had been hanging out in the freezer for a few months and I was worried it was going to get freezer bit so I thawed it and threw it on my meat slicer. A lot fattier than a normal beef fried rice but it was goooooood.
I’m gonna head to the Buford Market soon and pickup the stuff I am missing!
Hi Jen, great adjustments to use the ingredients you have on hand. ;-)
Awesome recipe! I tried it and loved it. Going to do again. I would like to add sprouts. At which point do you suggest I add the sprouts? Thank you in advance! You rock.
Hi Chris, add the sprouts after you have mixed in the sauces and seasoning – about the same time as the scallions. The sprouts should be cooked just until the raw taste is gone. They should still have a little crunch.