As a small child in Korea, I grew up on eggs served with rice. We all did! A fried egg mixed with warm steamed rice and a little bit of soy sauce and sesame oil was so delicious. We also had countless lunch boxes with a fried egg on top of the rice, gyeran mari (rolled omelette) or gyeranjjim (steamed eggs). Eggs are still a big part of Korean cuisine. This egg fried rice is flavored with lots of scallions! It’s a quick and easy way to whip up a light meal and use up leftover rice and eggs.
The key to this recipe is the oil flavored with scallions that’s used to cook the eggs and fry the rice. It gives this simple dish a nice flavor.
To keep the eggs soft, I first make scrambled eggs that are a bit runny, remove from the pan, fry the rice, and then add the eggs back to the pan to combine with the rice at the end. The eggs remain nice and fluffy this way.
If you want to add any other protein such as shrimp, chicken, beef, etc. to the fried rice, separately cook them and combine with the rice and eggs at the end. You can also fry frozen peas or finely chopped carrots with the rice. I added some shrimp in the photo below.
As you probably know, the secret to good fried rice is day old rice. If the rice is a bit too hard after being in the fridge, heat it up in the microwave to soften it a little, and break it up if clumped up before frying. If you need to make fresh rice for it, make it slightly drier by using a little less water than usual, fluff it up, and then leave it out to cool and dry out a bit.
This egg fried rice is simply delicious! Also, the scallion scrambled eggs are great on their own as breakfast or as a quick side dish to any Korean meal.
- 2 servings of rice about 3 cups cooked rice
- 3 large eggs
- 3 to 4 scallions or 1 Korean large scallion, daepa 대파, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- vegetable or canola oil for frying
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
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Finely chop the scallions.
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Crack and beat the eggs in a bowl with chopsticks or a fork.
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Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add 2/3 of the scallions, and stir fry until the scallions turn soft and fragrant.
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Reduce the heat to medium low and add the eggs, and gently stir to scramble until the eggs are set but still a bit runny. Transfer to a plate.
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Turn the heat up to medium high. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and stir in the remaining scallions until the scallions turn soft and fragrant. Stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
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Add the rice, and fry the rice, stirring well and breaking up the clumped up rice, until well toasted.
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Return the eggs to the pan and mix well with the rice, breaking up the eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
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