This Nigerian Fried Rice is the ultimate and irresistible version you have been searching for. This is stir-fried rice mixed with meats, carrots, green beans and other earthly-flavoured ingredients, which are breathtaking.
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I bet you will hardly see a gathering or occasion without fried rice. It is very irresistible with few ingredients and ready in just minutes.
There are many alternatives for meats for fried rice, beef, chicken, liver, goat meat, and more. If you are a vegetarian, use tofu, vegetable broth or water.
So, here is a quick story I want to share. Growing up, I was so pissed with the way the dish was made I asked myself, why boil the rice first before frying again? Why not just combine everything and cook at once? Little did I know that it was a completely different dish of its own and taste. Now I understand why; it's a treat to your taste buds. You are certainly in the best place for fried rice.
What is the Difference Between Chinese and Nigerian Fried Rice?
The only similarity is the use of pre-cooked rice, some veggies and meats. But the differences outweigh the similarities.
- Chinese fried rice uses day-old boiled rice, while Nigerian rice needs any boiled rice, preferably immediately boiled.
- Chinese fried rice uses eggs, soy sauce, and oyster sauce for taste and colour, but Nigerian fried rice doesn't need any. Salt and seasoning powder to taste and curry powder for its colour.
Important Recipe Tips
- Boil your meats with enough water so that you end up with enough stock to boil the rice with. If it's not enough, add water.
- Make sure you taste the stock before adding more salt so that you don't end up with salty rice.
- Boil the rice until tender, turn off the heat and keep it covered until it's fluffy. Make sure the rice isn't mushy.
- Cut the meats into small cubes or chunks and fry till brown. You can skip the frying part by air frying, broiling or grilling.
If you love rice, check out these other recipes.
- Coconut Fried Rice
- Nigerian Jollof Rice
- Shrimp Fried Rice
- Waakye (Ghanian rice and Beans)
- One Pot of Rice and Chicken
- One Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Rice.
Nigerian Fried Rice
Ingredients
To Boil The Rice
- 2 cups Rice
- 3 cups Broth or Water from boiled meat
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs Thyme optional
- Pinch of salt Taste the broth to know if salt will be needed (optional).
To Boil The Meats
- ½ kg Beef I used goatmeat
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Seasoning powder
- 3-4 cups Water Make sure you have enough to boil the rice.
To Fry The Rice
- 1 cup Carrots diced
- 1 cup Green beans diced
- 1 medium Onion chopped
- 2 teaspoon Garlic and garlic paste
- 2 Red bell peppers chopped
- ½ cup Leeks Or 4 green onions. chopped
- 1 teaspoon Curry powder
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Chicken bouillon or any seasoning powder
- ½ tsp Blackpepper
- 1 teaspoon All purpose seasoning Optional
- ½ cup Cooking oil
Instructions
- Boil the meat with the salt and seasoning powder until tender.
- Remove it from the broth and cut it into small chunks. Save the broth for the rice.
- Add the washed rice, bay leaves, broth, and thyme. Boil until tender for 20-25 minutes. Make sure the rice doesn't overcook. Taste the broth first to know if you need more salt.
- Turn off the heat and cover the pot for an extra 5 minutes so that it's fluffy. Remove and set aside.
- Add the oil to a hot pan and fry the meats until brown. Remove and set aside.
- With the remaining oil, or if needed, add more oil. Sauté the onion with the ginger and garlic paste for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the chopped peppers and leeks, and cook until the water from the peppers dries or the oil floats for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the carrot, green beans, fried meats, and all the seasonings. Stir to combine for about 1 minute so that the veggies sweat up.
- Add the cooked rice and keep stir-frying till it's well combined for about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately or when cooled.
Adebayo Bilikis Toyin
Super yummy yummy