You may have heard of soy sauce fried rice before, but what about “Supreme” Soy Sauce Fried Rice?
No?
Me either!
You were probably expecting a big reveal, but I made this one up.
This is another dish that took shape from our recent trip to Shanghai. I noticed that many restaurants had soy sauce fried rice on their menus (we all know how much Shanghainese people love soy sauce). You’d think that Shanghai would be the best place to try out this dish, but, unfortunately, during our recent trip there, this soy sauce loving city did not make this dish right. It had zero personality and no depth of flavor! Troubling.
This got me thinking. I know that Cantonese Soy Sauce Pan Fried Noodles is one of our most popular recipes––so many of you have made it, loved it and come back for it often. It’s familiar, comforting, and damn, is it yummy! Gears turned in my head, and I realized that Cantonese Pan Fried Noodles’ Chinese name translates to “Supreme” Soy Sauce Pan Fried Noodles (豉油王炒面). SO. Instead of plain soy sauce fried rice, why not adapt the sauce from the Cantonese Pan Fried Noodle recipe (a proven winner) and make it a Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice. Eh? Eh? Pretty brilliant, huh?
This Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice might look like what you get in a Shanghai restaurant, but taste-wise, it’s light years ahead.
It’s been a while since I posted a fried rice recipe, so I wanted to share a couple of my fried rice making tips today:
- Always add a bit of Shaoxing (or rice) wine when beating the eggs. It makes the eggs aromatic and flavorful.
- If the rice is clumpy, add a few drops of water or Shaoxing wine. The steam created will loosen the clumps right up.
- When making fresh rice for fried rice, reduce the water normally used by 15-20%. Maybe it’s a good time to look at our rice post to refresh your rice making skills. Day-old rice is recommended for fried rice, but by no means a requirement. All of the fried rice recipes on this blog are made with freshly made rice, so it’s definitely possible!
- When in doubt, add a splash of fish sauce to wake up the flavors–it will do you proud.
So the key to this recipe is the Supreme Soy Sauce (豉油王) element. Many master chefs have their own secret recipes, but, of course, at the Woks of Life we’re pretty bad at keeping secrets. ;)
The true secret to giving this sauce its depth of flavor is to cook the sauce before applying it to a dish–similar to making a reduction, but without the longer cooking time. I’ll just go ahead and say that I am pretty excited about this sauce. You can make a double or triple recipe of it and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use it in noodle dishes and stir fries–heck, you can even drizzle it on top of plain white rice.
First let’s make the supreme soy sauce:
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Put everything in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the sauce starts to boil, turn off the heat, and it’s done. It’s ready to use for the fried rice, or you can let it cool completely before storing it in an air-tight container. To clarify, the amount of sauce here is just enough for this recipe. If you’re making more, double or triple, as needed.
For the soy sauce fried rice:
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- Salt, to taste
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- 6 cups of cooked rice, cooled
- Your soy sauce mixture (see above)
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
To your beaten eggs, add 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine and a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your wok over high heat. Quickly scramble the eggs, and transfer to a dish. Set aside.
Now turn the heat down to medium, and add 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok. Add the rice, stir for a couple of minutes to make sure the rice is heated through.
Now add the soy sauce mixture and the scrambled egg.
Stir fry everything until combined. Pause for a taste test to see if additional salt is necessary. Lastly, toss in the chopped scallion, stir fry to combine…
And serve this Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice to your hungry family!
Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice
Ingredients
For the soy sauce mixture:
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
For the fried rice:
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- Salt (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons oil (divided)
- 6 cups cooked rice (cooled)
- 3 scallions (finely chopped)
Instructions
- First, make the soy sauce mixture. Put all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the sauce starts to boil, turn off the heat, and it’s done. It’s ready to use for the fried rice, or you can let it cool completely before storing it in an air-tight container. To clarify, the amount of sauce here is just enough for this recipe. If you’re making more, double or triple, as needed.
- To your beaten eggs, add 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine and a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your wok over high heat. Quickly scramble the eggs, and transfer to a dish. Set aside.
- Now turn the heat down to medium, and add 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok. Add the rice, stir for a couple of minutes to make sure the rice is heated through. Now add the soy sauce mixture and the scrambled egg. Stir fry everything until combined. Pause for a taste test to see if additional salt is necessary. Lastly, toss in the chopped scallion, stir fry to combine, and serve!
Nutrition
Debbie Driscoll says
This is – without a doubt – the BEST fried rice I’ve ever made!!! The flavor is outstanding and puts takeout fried rice to shame! I go through the fridge and add whatever extras are there… rotisserie chicken, shrimp, peas, snow peas, diced carrots, corn, cut up beans… the possible additions are endless. However… depending on the amount of things I throw in, I’ll make a second batch of sauce and add it little by little till the flavor is perfect.
Again… IT IS THE BEST!!!
Judy says
Thank you so much for your high praise, Debbie, so glad you like it.
Ellie says
This was delightful! I used 3 cups of rice, and added about 4 cups of vegetables, but kept everything else pretty much the same. Oh, and I added a bit of ginger and garlic. I think I might add just a little more Shaoxing wine next time, and maybe a tad bit less sugar, but I will most definitely make this again!
Judy says
How wonderful! You have made it your own :-)
Debbie Driscoll says
This is THE perfect recipe for better-than-takeout fried rice!!! I made it for four people and did 1 1/2 times the soy sauce mixture because I added about two cups of mixed vegetables (corn, peas & beans) along with sauteing 8 ozs of sliced mushrooms and 1/2 large white onion. Everyone loved it!!!
Judy says
Sounds wonderful, Debbie!
Starla says
This recipe is awesome—the sauce is the bomb! There was this great Chinese restaurant I used to go to that served fried rice that tasted like this, they closed down a little over 10 years and I’ve been searching for fried rice like theirs ever since. This is it! I can’t thank you enough.
Judy says
Really!?!?!? I thought I was the only one to think of this!
Mazmaz says
Hi,
I would love to try your recipe!! Unfortunately I try to avoid wine or anything with alcohol. Is there any replacement for the wine?
Judy says
Hi Mazmaz, you can omit the Shaoxing wine.
Bill Safsel says
Wow, I am so happy I made this! I used to get this beautiful dark fried rice when I was younger, and then it seemed to disappear from every Chinese take out, and replaced with a much lighter fried rice, with less flavor. I’m so happy right now! Thanks so much!
Judy says
How great is that!
Bill Safsel says
I have to admit, pretty damn great! :)
Het says
I tried this today and it’s delish! My two year old would love this too.
Judy says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Donald says
I’ve just recently gotten into Asian inspired cooking and am always looking for new recipes to try. I found your recipes and I really like the way they are presented and they are very tasty. I made this last night for dinner and it was a huge hit! There were hardly any left overs. We didn’t have any left over rice, but after spreading it out on a cookie sheet and tossing in the freezer, it was cooled down perfectly by the time I was ready for it after making the sauce and defrosting the veggies I threw in with it. Thank you and can’t wait to try more.
Judy says
Hi Donald, so glad you and your family enjoy our recipes. Happy wokking!
Happy Eater says
This turned out amazingly well! Old rice + random veggies + the sauce mix = big time yum. When I added veggies to the mix I used more sauce than recommended to account for their extra volume. My kid was super impressed and so was I. This is a flavorful dish that is better than most fried rice I can buy. (I live in San Francisco with hundreds of Chinese restaurants so that is really saying something)
I’ve scrambled eggs with the shaoxing wine for two recipes now and I’m convinced that the wine + the wok is the trick to the perfect scrambled egg every time, in no time at all.
Judy says
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a lovely comment!
Wayne says
Hey!
“When making fresh rice for fried rice, reduce the water normally used by 15-20%. Maybe it’s a good time to look at our rice post to refresh your rice making skills. Day-old rice is recommended for fried rice, but by no means a requirement. All of the fried rice recipes on this blog are made with freshly made rice, so it’s definitely possible!”
Does freshly made rice mean freshly made “cooled” rice or is the cooling part bypassed?
If I am going to cook the rice then put in the frig to use as fried rice the next tay does this mean I would not reduce the water by 15-20%?
If I want to not wait a day I reduce the water in my rice cooker by 15-20% cook the rice then cool it? Any quick tips for cooling freshly cooked rice to be used asap for fried rice?
Thanks
Judy says
Hi Wayne, there is no requirement to cool cooked rice for fried rice––it’s just that people like to use day-old rice to make fried rice because it can be a little easier. That said, feel free to use freshly made rice for fried rice. The key is to loosen it with a pair of chopsticks beforehand. You can also cook the rice using less water, and the rice will not stick together as much and be easy to fluff up.