If you eat a lot of rice-based meals, then you probably have old rice lying around.  Maybe you have it in saran wrapped bowls, or in your rice pot in the fridge.  Maybe you are a bit more civilized and store it in tupperware.  Either way, you want to use those tasty grains of starch rather than just throw them away.  Well, thank goodness for Fried Rice.  Fried Rice can resurrect those dried out kernels and turn them into a stand-alone meal or a nice accompaniment to some other dishes.  And yes, you can use new rice too.

(Aside:  I’m convinced that Fried Rice is to Chinese cooking what the sandwich is to American cooking.  Have leftovers?  Chinese cooks just throw it all into a pot of fried rice.  Americans throw it all into a sandwich.  After Thanksgiving, while much of America is eating turkey sandwiches, there’s also a lot of turkey fried rice going around.)

Fried Rice can made a million different ways.  The permutations are endless with all the vegetables and meats you can throw in.  Making a good bowl is simple, but can be hard to get just right.  I’ll try to emphasize the foundational skills to making this recipe rather than the variations.

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