Recipe: Homemade Thai Fried Rice

I found this Thai Fried Rice with Chicken Recipe (Khao Phat Gai) recipe about a year ago, and was making it as written until we run out of one of the ingredients at home. In the process of substituting whatever we had on hand for the recipe, I came up with my own version of this delicious homemade fried rice. I added A LOT of veggies, so that the ratio of rice to veggies is 1:1. That way I'm sure my family is at least getting quite a bit of their daily vegetable portion.

I first started out using chicken sausage (Aidell's to be precise), but one day we found these pork sausages on sale, and we haven't looked back since. They are already pretty salty, so that cuts down on the salt I use in the dish. They add a nice flavor to the fried rice when sauteed till they are a pretty brown color. I hope you enjoy making this at home. Feel free to add your own twist to it. Challenge yourself to use whatever you have on hand. You'll surprise yourself. :)

I'm trying something new on this post. I'm adding the instructions to the photos, then adding the text below the photos. That way you can follow along with the recipe when looking at the photos, or you can skip all the photos and go directly to the recipe instructions. It's all up to you!

Alrighty, here we go!

INGREDIENTS
2 cups diced sausages (I use...brand)
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 cups diced green onions
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups green peas
1/4-1/2tsp hot cayenne pepper (optional - if you don't like your food spicy, feel free to leave out)
Dash of black pepper
5 eggs (or 5 egg whites)
2 tbsps + 2 tsps vegetable oil
1 tbsp grated garlic
6 cups hard boiled rice (jasmine rice or other type of long grain rice works well. Cook with less water than usual to keep the grains hard)
1-2 tbsps soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar

RECIPE

1. Place the sausages in a large frying pan or wok, turn heat up to high and saute sausage until they are beautifully browned. This will release the oil in the sausage, reducing amount of oil you need for the food. Add the fish sauce to the sausages.
2. Add the onions, carrots and peas and stirfry for 2-3 mins, then add the pepper to taste. Stirfry for 2 more minutes, then dish out to a bowl.
3. There should be a small layer of oil on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high. If your vegetables took up all the oil, do not despair! Add 2 tsps of vegetable oil to the pan, whisk your eggs (or not), and add them to the pan. You can scramble the eggs into itty-bitty millions of pieces, or wait for it to set, then chunk it up so there are huge egg pieces in your rice. (I like itty-bitty, hubster prefers the chunks. I let him have the chunks since he inhales most of this fried rice.) Spoon egg out into a bowl/holding dish.
4. Turn heat up to medium-high, add the 2 tbsps of oil, and the 1 tbsp of garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds (garlic should look golden but not brown yet). Add the rice one cup at a time, stirring and breaking up the chunks after each cup.
5. Increase the heat to high, and add the soy sauce, stirring to make sure it's all mixed up very well (about 3 - 5 mins, depending on how hot your fire is). Add the sugar, and mix in properly.
6. Now add the already sauteed veggies, sausage and eggs. Mix it very well with the rice. Taste, and add some more soy sauce/fish sauce/pepper to taste. Dish out and enjoy!! :)

I hope you like it! Let me know what modifications you make to this recipe!