Thai · Lunch or dinner

Khao Pad (Thai Fried Rice)

Day-old jasmine rice, chicken, egg, scallion and lime.

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Khao Pad (Thai Fried Rice), plated, photographed from above.
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Makes
4 servings
Skill
Beginner
Heat
Mild, adjustable
Halal Contains soy Contains eggs Contains fish
Maui says

Use day-old rice. Fresh rice is too wet - it steams instead of fries and you get gummy clumps. If you didn't plan ahead, spread fresh rice on a tray and chill 30 min in the freezer to dry it out.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 4 servings.

  • 4 cupsday-old cooked jasmine ricebroken up with hands so grains are separate
  • ¾ lbboneless skinless chicken thighscut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 3large eggslightly beaten
  • 4garlic clovesminced
  • ½ mediumyellow oniondiced
  • 1roma tomatowedged
  • 3scallionsthinly sliced
  • 2 tbspsoy sauce
  • 1 tbspfish sauce
  • 1 tbspoyster sauce
  • ½ tspsugar
  • ¼ tspwhite pepper
  • 3 tbspneutral oil
  • 1limecut into wedges
  • ½cucumbersliced (for serving)

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 520calories
  • 28gprotein
  • 64gcarbs
  • 16gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Break up day-old rice with your hands so grains are separate, not clumped.
  2. Cube chicken. Dice onion; wedge tomato; slice scallions.
  3. Beat eggs. Mince garlic. Wedge lime; slice cucumber.
1

Sear chicken

Heat oil in the wok over high heat. Add chicken; stir-fry 3 min until just cooked through. Push to one side.

3 min · hands on
2

Egg and aromatics

Add oil to the empty side. Pour in eggs; let set 15 sec, scramble. Push to side. Add garlic and onion; stir-fry 60 sec.

2 min · hands on
3

Rice in

Add last oil and rice. Spread out and let it sit 30 sec to start crisping, then toss vigorously 90 sec - breaking up any clumps. You want some grains to catch and brown.

2 min · hands on
4

Sauce and finish

Drizzle soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and white pepper around the edges of the wok (not on the rice - let it caramelize on contact with hot metal). Toss 60 sec. Add tomato and scallions; toss 30 sec.

2 min · hands on
5

Plate

Plate with cucumber and lime wedges on the side. Squeeze lime over the rice at the table - it cuts the savory and is the move that makes khao pad taste Thai, not Chinese.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of chicken thighs Shrimp

Stir-fry shrimp 90 sec in step 2; pull and add back at end. Saves about 2 minutes.

Instead of chicken thighs Chicken breast

Slice thin; cook 2 min. Saves about 1 minutes.

Instead of chicken thighs Extra-firm tofu

Press 10 min, cube, sear until golden.

Gluten free Tamari for soy sauce, gluten-free oyster sauce for oyster sauce

What keeps

Khao pad reheats well in a hot pan with a splash of oil. Cook the day-old rice fresh into the dish; don't make and store pre-fried rice.

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