This quick, easy and incredibly tasty satay chicken fried rice recipe makes use of leftover satay chicken skewers and steamed rice – although the satay chicken could be made from scratch to go into the rice or be eaten on the side. Vegetarians could skip the chicken completely. Sprinkled with crispy fried shallots and fragrant coriander, it’s a delicious use of leftovers.
It’s Friday, which for me is Fried Rice Day, and which for you means a new fried rice recipe on Grantourismo to make on Friday night if you love fried rice as much as I do – and you have some steamed rice and other leftovers in the fridge that can be repurposed.
Because my hope is that even if you don’t necessarily have the ingredients to make our latest fried rice recipe – which in this week’s case is a tasty satay chicken fried rice recipe created to use up leftover Thai satay chicken skewers and steamed rice – that Fried Rice Day will inspire you to concoct your own fried rice.
Or you could browse our fried rice recipes archive, where we have everything from traditional fried rice dishes from China and right across Asia – from a classic Korean kimchi fried rice recipe for kimchi bokkeumbap to an Indonesian fried rice for nasi goreng – along with my fried rice experiments, such as this satay chicken fried rice recipe.
But before I tell you more about this satay chicken fried rice, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying something on Amazon, such as these classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers or gifts for Asian food lovers. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay extra. Now let’s tell you all about this satay fried rice.
Satay Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
My tasty satay chicken fried rice recipe, which I created to make use of some leftover Thai satay chicken skewers, Thai peanut satay sauce and steamed rice that we had in the fridge, is the latest in a series of new fried rice recipes that I’ve been sharing in recent weeks.
Our new fried rice recipes have included everything from a Thai pineapple fried rice – which partly inspired this tasty satay chicken fried rice recipe, only this recipe is even easier – to a Japanese fried rice recipe for yakimeshi with bacon, egg and cabbage.
As regular readers know, in between working on our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history, and a cookbook on my family recipes and stories, we’ve also been developing a rice cookbook during the pandemic.
The rice cookbook project emerged from a ‘rice war’ that broke the internet and resulted in these stories: Make Rice Not War, A Celebration of Rice Diversity to Inspire Curiosity and Connection and How to Cook Rice Around the World: 66 Rice Dishes by 65 Rice Lovers.
So whenever I get the chance, that is, whenever we have leftover rice and other leftovers in the fridge, I’m experimenting with new rice dishes, especially fried rice dishes, and this satay chicken fried rice recipe is the latest result of my rice experiments.
Terence thinks I have a problem. He thinks I’ve taken my fried rice experiments a bit too far. Whenever there are leftovers, I can’t resist transforming them into a fried rice dish, but not only that: I’m making dishes in order to create leftovers just so I can turn them into fried rice.
Okay, so maybe I have a problem. But if the result is delicious food and recipes such as this satay fried rice recipe, which makes use of leftover satay chicken skewers and steamed rice, surely it can’t be that bad? Please make this and my recent recipes and let me know if I’m taking things too far.
I only have a few tips to making my satay fried rice recipe.
Tips to Making this Satay Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
Just a few tips to making my tasty satay chicken fried rice recipe, starting with the rice. Fried rice was invented to use up leftover rice, so day-old steamed rice that’s been in the fridge is definitely best for this dish.
That doesn’t mean you can’t make this satay fried rice recipe, if you don’t have leftover rice in your refrigerator. While just-cooked rice will go mushy if you attempt to stir-fry it while it’s still warm, you can spread the rice out loosely over a large tray, such as a stainless steel or aluminium baking tray, and set it aside to cool, and it will be just fine.
I make fried rice this way all the time and it never clumps together and never goes mushy. But you really must steam your jasmine rice in a rice cooker rather than boiling it on the stove.
We fry our rice in our round flat bottomed wok, which is non-stick and light-weight. If you don’t have a wok, you really must get one. We’re going to share a wok comparison guide on Grantourismo very soon. If you don’t have a wok, use your favourite frying pan or skillet.
Make sure to taste the rice before serving it and adjust the seasoning to your palate, and don’t skip the garnishes, which add texture and aroma, such as these crispy fried shallots and fresh fragrant coriander.
Satay Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups jasmine rice - steamed
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 large onion - peeled and finely diced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 eggs
- chicken satay skewer leftovers - diced
- 2 tbsp peanuts - pan-roasted
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp crispy fried shallots
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander - leaves only
Instructions
- If you don’t have any day-old steamed rice in your fridge, steam 2 cups of rice in a rice cooker; when done, spread the rice out loosely on a tray, and set aside to cool.
- In a wok over medium heat, heat the oil, then add the diced onion and fry until soft, aromatic and translucent, add the curry powder, and stir to combine well.
- Add the rice and stir-fry continually, mixing and tossing, to ensure the rice is covered with the curried-oil.
- Push the rice to one side, crack the eggs into the wok, scramble for a minute, then stir to combine well with the rice.
- Add the optional diced chicken satay skewer leftovers and pan-roasted peanuts, then season with the salt and white pepper, taste, and adjust seasoning to your palate.
- Turn off the heat and serve immediately, garnishing with crispy fried shallots and fresh coriander.
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make this satay chicken fried rice recipe as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
That tasted amazing! A chef told me a hack for planning fried rice. To get the rice really dry after steaming, not only spread it out on a tray and let it come down to room temperature, store it on the tray in the fridge overnight – if you can. No condensation and very dry rice. Not that everyone has room for it, but it really works!
Hi Paul, thank you so much! And, yes, that’s a great tip; chefs always have the best tips – I’m sure we say that somewhere in one of our rice posts :) – but as long as your rice is al dente and fluffed up a little in the container when you refrigerate it, it should stir-fry well. You just don’t want to squash it down into the container – which I’m guilty of doing occasionally, but I usually use that rice for congee or rice porridge. Thanks for taking the time to drop by and leave a comment :)