Ham and Vegetable Fried Rice

Part 2 of the Chinese Series...Fried Rice!  Jeff makes this most of the time, but for some reason I can never get him to post stuff on here.  So here we go.    Most measurements with this aren't exact because it depends on how much rice you have.   This is actually traditionally made in China with leftover rice from whatever you made the night before from dinner.  So you use pretty much whatever veggies you have in the house along with some ham or spam and some eggs.  So this is just one version, but you can make it with whatever you like.

Right this is Jeff I type in red when I edit blog posts.
First it must be understood that cooking Chinese food unlike most baked goods is more art than science and so the exact quantities don't matter.  And this is how Chinese people do it outside the restaurant (and sometimes inside the restaurant world).


Ham Fried Rice

2 c steamed rice  Whenever you cook rice cook 3 cups.  It doesn't matter if you'll eat it or not, because Fried rice works better with leftover rice.
1/2 c diced ham or spam Carmel doesn't like SPAM, and I don't measure.
2 eggs, scrambled and cooked  I cook my eggs separately, I've seen great Chinese chiefs fry rice then move it all to the side cook the eggs in the same wok and mix it together.  But seriously unless you have lots of practice your eggs stick to your wok and you have little burned particles of egg in you rice. Yuck!  So I just scramble them in a frying pan and throw the results in at the end.
1/2 c we don't measure carrots we count them 2 carrots. chopped carrots, celery, or broccoli (or all 3)
1/2 c frozen peas Um... unfreezed them before putting them in a frying pan
1/2 c chopped onion half onion, whole, whatever you like
1 tbsp minced garlic do I do this? don't remember....
soy sauce
olive oil

Get everything minced chopped, whatever before you cook because once you're started you won't have time to go chop something else.  Rice sticks to woks.  To mitigate this it's best to let your rice dry out a bit.  Fried rice is best with last night's leftovers anyway.  I also like to add a little oil to the rice and stir it around this will help too.  But in the end realize the rice will stick, let it and don't scrape it out of the pan.  Burned rice is Yuck.  Having that burned rice stuck to your wok is really doing you a favor.


Heat wok over high heat, and add oil to heat.  If you can get your wok hot enough you'll have to stir often. Add vegetables and cook til tender.  If ham came in the can or is cold add it with the vegetables. Add ham, eggs, and rice, eggs last. Stir well to combine and to keep rice from sticking.  Add soy sauce, stir again, and then serve.