A simple and customizable teriyaki fried rice, featuring a super flavorful homemade teriyaki sauce. I also give a brief review of Gardein’s meatless turk’y cutlets.
My verdict on the Gardein Meatless Turk’y Cutlets: they taste great! After baking, they achieve a level of crispiness that I’m happy with (as frozen food is concerned). The texture of the Turk’y itself is firm and meaty — they sort of remind me of fried tofu katsu. If you don’t have access to these cutlets, you could also make some at home! Try my Cauliflower Katsu recipe.
As with almost everything, teriyaki sauce is better homemade. The depth of flavor you get from caramelizing brown sugar first is amazing!
Note on Rice. You probably already know this, but you should always use leftover cooked rice. After keeping rice in the fridge for 1-2 days, the rice will harden and make it much easier to achieve that desired texture. Freshly cooked rice, on the other hand, has a more glutenous texture that you wouldn’t want for your fried rice.
Vegan Teriyaki Fried Rice
Course: DinnerCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Easy2
servings15
minutes20
minutesSimple vegan fried rice featuring an easy, super flavorful homemade teriyaki sauce.
Ingredients
- Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- Teriyaki Fried Rice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
2 inch ginger, peeled and finely minced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 dried chilis, seeds removed and thinly sliced
1/4 yellow onion, finely minced
100 grams pearl onions (or replace with equal weight yellow onion)
2 cups cooked rice, left overnight
4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (homemade)
1/4 cup frozen edamame, or other peas
1 package Gardein meatless turk’y cutlets
pickled red cabbage, for garnish
Directions
- Make the Teriyaki Sauce. In a small pot or saucepan, first cook the brown sugar by itself until melted and caramelized (it should achieve a darker color). Then, add the sesame oil, garlic, and ginger and cook until just aromatic, around 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar (I like to pre-combine them). Bring to a light boil and reduce the sauce by about half, or until desired consistency. The time the sauce takes to reduce will depend on heat and pan size, so just keep an eye on it. If you would like to add sesame seeds, add them at the end of the reduction.
- Prepare the Gardein Meatless Turk’y Cutlets. Prepare according to packaged instructions. I personally prefer the baking method — 450 degrees F (232 C) for around 17 minutes.
- Make the Teriyaki Fried Rice. In a work or pan, heat up vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and dried chilis and cook together until aromatic, around 1 minute. Follow with yellow onions and pearl onions and cook until softened and lightly caramelized. Once the onions are nicely caramelized and charred, add the leftover cooked rice. Leftover rice is likely to be very clumpy so just use your spatula to break up the clumps. Once you’ve broken up the clumps and tossed the rice with the onions, add in the teriyaki sauce as well as frozen edamame (you don’t need to thaw them before-hand). Toss everything together and cook for a few additional minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional teriyaki sauce. Serve warm.
Notes
- Onions: You do not need pearl onions, although they do provide a variance in texture. Simply replace the pearl onions with minced shallots or more yellow onions.
- In addition to edamame, you can add any other pantry staples such as bell peppers, corn, peas, carrots. Customize the fried rice to your liking!
Your recipes have opened up a whole new world of cooking and culture for me. I am learning so much now about Asian cuisine and traditions after discovering your recipes. Thank you!