Fried rice is more often served in restaurants than at home but families may have fried rice at breakfast which is cooked from the leftover steamed rice of the previous dinner.
Vietnam has been an agricultural society for thousands of years. Living standards have improved much in the country for the last couple of decades but rice had once been as important as life. People were not allowed to waste rice at all. Most of the population in Vietnam was farmers and though farming families did have pigs, cattle, poultry at home these were not fed with rice. The reason was that rice was constantly scarce and was food for people only, not animals.
Fried rice with minced beef and egg
Back in the past, the leftover rice of a meal will be re-cooked for the next meal of the family. The rice would be re-steamed or fried. The leftover rice of a dinner would normally be fried for the next day breakfast. Fried rice would keep the farmers fit enough to work the whole morning in the field. Fried rice saved other dishes, as food was scarce and having meat for meals was rare. Having fried rice as breakfast, the farmers wouldn’t need to eat accompanying dishes at the meal. Back then rice was fried with lard which was the same with other fried dishes. Nowadays, it is cooking oil that people use to fry rice.
Traditionally fried rice was normally without other ingredients. Sometimes people added eggs to it and stir the mixed food up to obtain fried rice with egg. Some other times people would fry rice with pickled vegetables.
As the economy improves, other ingredients can be added which makes the dish for suitable to individual tastes. Fried rice is convenient and delicious, and the dish helps you with enough energy on active tours or adventure tours.
Below you can find common variations of fried rice served in Vietnamese restaurants:
1/Fried rice with vegetables: the vegetables could be fresh spinach or beans. The rice and vegetables/beans are fried separately first, then they are mixed and stir-fried briefly again to obtain to dish.
2/Fried rice with pickled vegetables: the method is the same as fried rice with vegetables. The vegetables are mostly pickled spinach with sliced daikon.
3/Fried rice with eggs: the rice is fried first and raw egg is added later, then stir the mixture up for a couple of more minutes.
4/Fried rice with beef: The rice is stir-fried first and the beef is sauteed. Then put them together and stir them up for 2 – 3 minutes more.
5/Fried rice with chicken: Shredded chicken is steamed or fried lightly first. Then stir-fry the rice. Put them together and stir-fry the dish for 3 minutes more. Add a hint of fish sauce at the end.
6/Fried rice with seafood: Stir-fry rice with seafood at the same time. Alternatively, stir-fry seafood lightly first, then put it into the fried rice and stir fry the mixture again. A drizzle of fish sauce is added and stir-fry for 1 minute further.
7/Mixed fried rice: The rice is stir-fried with beans, a little minced pork, thin slices of Vietnamese sausage.
Fried rice nowadays is among the most popular dishes of dishes of Vietnamese food to both foreign visitors and Vietnamese people. It is convenient and it is yummy!
