Fried rice is having a moment right now. What better way to clean out your fridge than to throw all your vegetables in a pan with some rice and call it dinner? It’s easy, it’s delicious, and it makes a little rice go a long way. Most recipes I see call for “leftover cooked rice” and I have to tell you that has just never been a thing in our home. David treats rice as a major food group, eating enough to prevent us from having any so-called “leftover” hanging around. So if you’re like us, you’ll need to plan ahead here and make some rice the night before, or at least a few hours before dinner to let it cool. Don’t use freshly cooked rice-it will all glob together in the wok, and nobody wants that.

I found this version many years ago in one of those bargain bin cookbooks containing exactly 2 good recipes, with this being one of them. I’ve adjusted the veggies up a little, so the rice can be called dinner on its own. I also increased the spice and the coconut milk, because I like it like that. Finally, I leave out the shrimp so David doesn’t die, and use pork chops instead of Chinese bbq pork, because I have never been able to find that. David tells me it doesn’t really count as fried rice with the creamy coconut milk, but I would argue that it is just fried rice with a coconut finish.

Spicy Coconut Fried Rice

Recipe by Too Many Spoons

Servings

servings

Cost

Total time

minutes

If you don’t have a wok, use a deep saute pan. Just let it get nice and hot, and know you might have to increase your cooking times.
Either way, keep everything moving once you start cooking. Fried rice likes to be stirred/tossed constantly.
Don’t be alarmed by the total time estimate-a good portion of that is just to allow for all the chopping.

Ingredients

12 ounces thin cut boneless pork chops, or standard chops pounded to 3/4 inch thickness
2 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
Thinly sliced green cabbage, from 1/2 a small head
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp sriracha
1 tsp ground turmeric
3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided
4 cups cold cooked rice, from 1 1/2 cup dry
1/2 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp soy sauce

Directions

About 10 minutes before you want to start cooking, pour the teriyaki sauce over the pork chops for a quick marinade.
Next, chop all your vegetables: onion, pepper, celery, carrot, cabbage. Try to cut them pretty small, and all around the same size (except the cabbage which gets a thin slice). Put the onion in a small bowl, and all the others in a large bowl. Chopping everything will be mildly annoying and take some time, but it all gets easier after this.
Mix the ginger, garlic, sriracha, and turmeric together in a small bowl to make a spicy paste.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Wipe off any excess sauce from the pork chops, then cook them 4-5 minutes per side, until just cooked through. Let them rest on a plate or cutting board for a few minutes, then cut into small pieces (about the same size as your veggies).
Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add the ginger paste, stirring to incorporate.
Add the remaining vegetables to the wok and stir/toss well to get everything coated with the ginger paste. Cook 5-6 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted and the vegetables are crisp-tender. You can cook longer if you want them softer, but don’t let them get mushy.
Add the rice to the wok, stirring to distribute the vegetables, and break up any clumps in the rice. Add the pork and mix again.
Stir in the coconut milk and soy sauce, and cook 2 more minutes to let everything meld together. Taste for seasoning before serving-you may want to add some more salt here, depending on the saltiness of your soy sauce.