Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice

This Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice is flavourful and full of umami. It’s a versatile fried rice dish that only requires a handful of ingredients.

Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice is simple takeaway dish that you can easily make at home. It’s perfectly suitable for being an entire meal in itself or served as a side for your favourite curries or stir fries.

Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice

Soy sauce fried rice is a classic dish and an absolute staple in many Chinese restaurants. It’s a simple dish but don’t let that fool you, the simplicity is completely masked by bold flavours.

We’re adding some Sichuan flavour to this soy sauce fried rice which takes it up a notch and deepens the flavours even further. This is done by incorporating Sichuan peppercorns along with a handful of simple sauces that in essence creates our own ‘Sichuan style’ hot and spicy sauce mix.

This Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice is totally versatile

You can change around the vegetables and protein to your preference or use any leftover odd bits lying around. This is a great recipe for using up leftover rice and vegetables.

I’ve used fried tofu here which does make this version also entirely vegan. However feel free to adapt this to whatever you like in your fried rice dishes.

The ratio of sauces can also be played around with depending on whether you prefer your fried rice to be more salty or perhaps even more sharp.

The key flavours in this fried rice

• Heat – from the bird eye chilies which then gets enhanced by the tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorns
• Umami – from the soy sauces and the MSG (if using)
• Sour – which is for balance from the tomato paste and rice vinegar
• Sweetness – just a hint from the agave, you could also use honey
• Spice but not spicy – from the Chinese 5 spice which is made of 5 different spices, normally star anise, fennel, cinnamon, clove, and pepper (usually white or Sichuan). This adds a well rounded warmth without adding heat

If these flavours resonate with you and you enjoy these types of recipes, I highly recommend checking out my Garlic Pepper Paneer Fried Rice for something similar but also different!

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Day-old rice – I’ll explain this in full below. I’m using day-old leftover jasmine rice for this recipe
• Aromatics – ginger, garlic, chillies, and onions
• Spices – Sichuan peppercorns (I buy these from my local East Asian supermarket) and Chinese 5 spice (also from the same supermarket though readily available in most general supermarkets these days)
• Vegetables – I’m using a medley of baby corn, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, and peppers
• Protein – I’m using tofu puffs here which are essentially just fried tofu. I purchase these from my local East Asian supermarket
• Sauces and seasonings – you’ll need both dark and light soy sauces, tomato puree/paste, rice vinegar, agave/honey, and MSG (if you want to use it)
• Finishing – spring onions/scallions and toasted sesame oil

Leftover day-old rice is key

Freshly cooked rice contains a lot of moisture which is not ideal for stir frying. This would create a more mushy texture and the grains would be more likely to break apart.

As the rice cools in the fridge it starts to dry out, and this allows the grains to separate with ease. Whilst also allowing the rice to be robust enough for stir frying. I recommend using day old or even 2 day old rice for this.

To cool rice down safely, as soon as it’s done cooking transfer it to a wide plate or tray and spread out evenly. The increased surface area will cool the rice more rapidly so it can then be placed into the fridge.

MSG adds the restaurant style flavour

This is known as monosodium glutamate, and it sadly has become a controversial ingredient due to an old notorious report by a physician in the 1960s – which had no basis or evidence behind it.

It’s a naturally occurring sodium salt of glutamic acid that is present in many of the things we love to eat e.g. tomatoes, mushrooms, certain cheeses, kelp, soy sauce, and so much more.

As always, this is not essential but it is recommended. I leave it entirely up to you whether you choose to use it or not.

Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice serving suggestions

You could absolutely serve this on its own, the abundance of vegetable and tofu does make it quite filling! However I personally do like to serve it along with:

• Hot and Sour Tofu
• Gochujang and Garlic Aubergine
• Ginger and Spring Onion Tofu

The KEY tips for making this fried rice

1. Day-old rice is essential – this simply won’t work with freshly cooked rice, it’ll be mushy and sticky which is not what we want
2. Use a medley of vegetables – the colours and textures are part of the experience, so use your favourites or the ones I have
3. Have everything prepped and ready – this is called ‘mise en place and it involves have everything chopped and ready for cooking. Recipes like this have a very short cooking time and ingredients need to be added one after another. This also helps to ensure we don’t overcook the vegetables as they need to retain a slight crunch for texture

How to make this Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice

1) Start by toasting the Sichuan peppercorns on a low heat for several minutes

2) Then transfer them to a pestle and mortar and grind into a powder

3+4) Start by sautéing the garlic, ginger, chillies, spring onion whites (and light greens), and Sichuan peppercorn in oil for around 1 minute

5+6) Next add in all of the vegetables and continue to sauté on a high heat for another 1-2 minutes. This won’t take long at all! The key is to just cook the vegetables through but to retain some texture

7) Then, add in all of the day old rice and use your hands or spoon/spatula to gently break this apart. It should split apart quite easily

8) Mix the rice into all the vegetables and aromatics and continue to sauté over a high heat for another minute or so

9) At this point, add in all of the sauces (the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, tomato paste/puree, and agave/honey. Don’t add the sesame oil just yet, that’s for finishing

10) Also add in the Chinese 5 spice and MSG (if you’re using it)

11+12) Mix everything together really well, we want the liquid to cook off and the rice to become glazed all over

13+14) At this point we can add in the fried tofu, it’s too delicate to add earlier and would have broken apart. Simply mix that in and it will already soak up the flavours like a sponge

15+16) Finish your Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice with spring onion greens and touch of toasted sesame oil. Mix it all together and enjoy!

Frequently asked questions

Is jasmine rice essential for this recipe?

Not at all, feel free to use any rice you like. I tend to alternate between jasmine rice, long grain, and medium grain rice. Sometimes even a combination of two. Basmati rice also works in a pinch.

Can the fried rice be reheated again?

A lot of people do reheat fried rice again, and I have done so myself in the past (and been absolutely fine). Though it’s generally not advised to reheat rice more than once due to the risk of food poisoning.

Ultimately, to minimise the risk it’s best to cool down leftover fried rice immediately (ideally within the first hour) by spreading out onto a wide tray or plate. Once cooled, transfer to an air tight container and place immediately into the fridge.

Can regular tofu be used in this Soy and Sichuan Fried Rice?

Absolutely, I’d recommend to cut it into bite sized pieces and brush with oil. Then pan fry/bake/air fry the tofu separately just to crisp up the outside. Add it in at the same stage I’ve added the fried tofu.

If you enjoyed this recipe

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Until then, happy cooking!