Out of soy sauce? That doesn’t mean you can’t make a delicious fried rice! This recipe swaps a mix of oyster and fish sauce for typical soy sauce and it leaves absolutely nothing to be desired. So if you’re after a great way to use up extra cooked rice but there’s not a drop of soy sauce in sight, then this is the recipe for you!
Go ahead and use whatever vegetables you want and add any kind of protein you choose – this is a bit more of a guideline than hard and fast rules.
That being said, the results are a wonderful fried rice that’s super quick and easy to make – perfect for a weeknight meal!
How to Make Fried Rice Without Soy Sauce
This recipe works best with cold, cooked rice. Traditionally, day-old rice is called for but so long as it’s cooked completely and cooled (even if you cooked it in the morning and then use it in this recipe in the evening) you will be set up for success.
This is also a really good use for any leftover rice you may have from a takeaway dinner you’ve had the night before.
Regardless of how you obtain your cooked rice, do keep in mind that you do need to have it completely cooked before starting on this dish.
With that out of the way, let’s get to cooking this dish! We’ll start first with browning to tofu – go ahead and use an equal amount by weight of any other protein of your choice here, as well. The same instructions apply.
Add some oil to a large skillet or wok and set over high heat. Once just below smoking, add some crumbled firm tofu and cook, stirring regularly, until it’s browned and crisp. Then, go ahead and remove the tofu from the pan.
Pour a bit more oil into the pan if you need it (you may not, however) and then add in some thinly sliced garlic, some ginger cut into matchsticks, the white parts of some scallions and a couple of minced Thai chilies.
Cook these, stirring constantly, just until the garlic is starting to brown around the edges. This should only take a minute or two.
Following this, add some cut green beans, a diced red pepper and a diced carrot to the pan. Cook these vegetables, stirring constantly, until they’re bright and beginning to tenderise – again, only a couple of a minutes.
Now’s the time to add your eggs. Scooch your vegetables to the side of the pan and crack in your eggs.
Use your spatula and lightly scramble the eggs and mix them into the veggies. Continue this until they’re dry in appearance – another minute.
Next, add the tofu back into the pan along with the rice. Mix some fish sauce and oyster sauce together and pour this over your rice.
Stir everything to combine and continue cooking until the rice is nice and dry and beginning to crisp in places.
And all you need to do is serve and enjoy! Top with some thinly sliced greens of the scallions and dig in.
And if you’re after some more Asian-inspired recipes, I have a great soy sauce-free stir fry sauce and my pad Thai recipe is excellent, as well!
Egg Fried Rice Without Soy Sauce
Ingredients
- 150 g (½ cup) firm tofu crumbled with hands (see notes)
- 5 green onions whites cut into 4cm (1½in) pieces, greens thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1-2 thai chilies minced
- 15 g (½ oz) ginger about 3cm (1in), cut into thin matchsticks
- 100 g (1 cup) green beans cut into 4cm (1½in) pieces
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 carrot peeled & diced
- 3 eggs
- 450 g (2 cups) cooked white rice day-old, from 150g (¾ cup) dried rice
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp fish sauce
Instructions
- Add one tbsp of neutral oil to a large nonstick skillet or wok. Set over high heat. Once shimmering, add the tofu and cook, stirring constantly, until it's crisp and browned – about 3 minutes. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.
- Add up to 1 tbsp more oil to the skillet if needed. Add the green onion, garlic, chilies and ginger. Cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and the garlic begins to brown – about 1 minute.
- Add the green beans, red pepper and carrot to the skillet, Continue stirring constantly until the vegetables are lightly tender and bright in colour – about 2 more minutes.
- Crack in the eggs and, using your spatula, lightly scramble them as they mix into the vegetables.
- Once the eggs are dry in consistency, add the rice and the tofu back into the skillet. Mix to combine.
- Mix together the oyster sauce and the fish sauce and pour over the rice. Stir until completely coated over the rice. Continue cooking for a minute or two longer, until the rice is dry, crisp and browning in places. Serve immediately, topping with the thinly sliced greens of the green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Making fried rice without using any soy sauce is super simple and delicious if you use fish sauce and oyster sauce instead! It’s a quick and easy weeknight meal perfect for using up leftover cooked rice!
Are you after a great recipe for egg fried rice? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
