I can’t even explain how good this fried rice is. I came up with the recipe on a whim awhile back. It was my first time making fried rice since becoming vegan in September of last year, and I wanted it to taste as good as I remembered fried rice tasting.
Thankfully, with a few additions (and subtractions!), this dish turned out remarkable. Even my husband, who only groans like crazy when his food is MEGA GOOD, couldn’t keep his mouth shut about it.
“You HAVE to blog this”, he said. “You HAVE TO. It’s SO GOOD.”
And so, here I am. Blogging it.
Traditional fried rice is made with fried egg and some kind of meat. Usually bacon – at least, that’s what was always in my fried rice growing up.
So, I had to either eliminate those ingredients, or come up with some substitutions.
I went the substitution route.
Instead of fried egg, I added scrambled tofu, which gave the dish that yellow colour that cooked eggs do.
For bacon, I had a few options. I could use fake meat, but didn’t want to, I could use coconut bacon – but I’m not a big fan of coconut bacon, and I didn’t feel like making anything bacon-like, so I did the next best thing – I used liquid smoke in the sauce.
And guess what – it worked like a charm. Bacon flavour without the bacon. Hurrah!
This is now one of my go-to meals when I am too tired to dream up something creative.
If you can cook the rice in advance, that will save you a lot of cooking time, since rice can take up to 45 minutes to cook (depending on the type you use – brown rice takes me 45 minutes to cook).
- 1½ cups uncooked rice (I used brown rice)
- ½ block extra firm tofu, pressed for at least 20 minutes
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 medium carrot, diced (very small!)
- ⅔ cup frozen peas
- Green onions for garnish (optional)
- 2 tbsp tamari
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced or grated
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp sriracha sauce (or to the heat of your liking!)
- Cook rice according to package directions and set aside.
- Crumble the pressed tofu in a small bowl. Add in the turmeric, nutritional yeast, salt, onion powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or so, or until the garlic has browned lightly.
- Add in the tofu mixture and cook for about 5-7 minutes more, stirring often. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan that you used to cook your tofu, heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat, then add in the carrots and peas.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the carrots can easily be pierced with a sharp knife. Set aside.
- Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a large pan or wok over medium heat, add your sauce, then the rice, then the vegetables, then the scrambled tofu.
- Mix everything together very well, and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Serve, topped with a sprinkling of chopped green onions, if desired.
Soleah says
September 29, 2015 at 6:13 PMI’ve been vegan (and also a raw foodist for 4) 15I years. Only love cooking the last 2 yrs. I made this last week and it was great! I accidentally used a whole block of tofu, so I doubled the spices. Definitely making it again! Loved it, Thanks!
Soleah says
September 29, 2015 at 6:14 PMThat’s 15 years i mean. Lol
Marianne says
August 19, 2015 at 5:04 AMHi,
Made the fried rice tonight. I didnt have the liquid smoke. Without the liquid smoke it was still delicious. As my husband kept saying ‘ delicious, absolutely delicious’. Needless to say this will now be my go to fried rice recipe.
Marianne
Traci Bault says
July 10, 2015 at 10:10 PMJust made this and it is absolutely wonderful! Great job, Cassie! I did add more peas and carrots and some diced celery and also some diced up vegan chik’n nuggets and also sauted some onion with the garlic for the tofu scramble (I don’t have any green onions). Anyway, I think it’s delicious! Thank you!
Sabbatha Bastet says
July 8, 2015 at 6:07 PMMy family LOVES this recipe. Even my 19 year old son who HATES rice about 80% of the time, will come back for seconds and thirds! I’ve made this sooooo many times with many different varaitions of veggies. The sauce and the nooch mixture for the tofu is what makes this everything. I don’t think it matters what veggies.
Alice says
May 25, 2015 at 7:35 AMI saw this recipe and adjusted it a little (didn’t add liquid smoke) and turned out to be very successful and so tasty, both me and my husband loved it! I also want to point out that it’s so clever how you make the tofu look so much like egg by adding turmeric in it! Thanks for sharing! I wish I could show you the picture of my dish though! 🙂
Alice says
May 20, 2015 at 9:37 PMI am a newbie vegan. Tried this recipe in place of our usual ham and shrimp laden fried rice and was afraid of what the kids would think. They loved it! We added edamame beans and corn, in addition to the peas and carrots. It was different enough from fried rice that we were not comparing one with the other, which was good. Loved the tofu scramble, and loved the sauce with the liquid smoke. Great recipe. Thanks, Cassie!
eloise says
April 25, 2015 at 5:43 PMYum! Just made this recipe and its awesome! It was my first time making scrambled tofu and im quite impressed! The texture and color is spot on (well, from what i remember lol.. Havent had eggs in a long time) I did add more veggies (celery, bell pepper, mushrooms) and sprinkled black sesame seeds on top! Im pretty sure its gonna be good cold as left overs for lunch 😉 thanks for sharing!
Diana Pang says
March 15, 2015 at 3:30 PMThis wasnt so great. Didn’t taste like fried rice but some rice concoction. I liked the idea though.
Laqueeta Lynne says
March 8, 2015 at 9:47 PMThis was very good. I forgot to put the peas in it,even after I went to the store to get them,but it was still great. I will be adding to my rotation! Thanks
pam says
January 13, 2015 at 2:02 AMjust curious, new to vegan cooking and was wondering if nutritional yeast is a must or can i omit?
thanks in advance =)
excited to make this!
Cassie says
March 15, 2015 at 4:40 PMNutritional yeast adds a cheesiness. You can omit for this recipe if you don’t have it.
Lucy says
January 5, 2015 at 7:25 PMThis is the first time I have tried a “Tofu Scramble”. I loved all the colors of this recipe. Thanks!
Samson says
November 7, 2014 at 4:01 PMLooks great – thank you!! I will be making this soon 🙂
oz says
October 21, 2014 at 3:32 PMIs that 1.5 cups dry rice? Or 1.5 cups cooked rice?
Cassie says
October 21, 2014 at 4:29 PMSorry! Uncooked rice. 🙂
Kelli Vitro says
September 26, 2014 at 8:46 PMThis was seriously amazing, and really satisfied my comfort food craving. I think that next time I make it I will omit the salt and add in some more veggies. Thank you for the great recipe!
Cassie says
September 27, 2014 at 10:32 AMSo happy you enjoyed it Kelli!
Canticle says
June 4, 2014 at 10:43 PMHi!
🙂 Had this tonight with my family and it was a complete HIT!!!! First time working with a tofu scramble. Thank you 🙂
Cassie says
June 5, 2014 at 7:33 PMI’m glad you enjoyed it! Tofu scrambles are super simple and yummy. 🙂