Basic Steps to Making Fried Rice (볶음밥)

Stir-fried rice is made quickly and at a higher heat to get a smoky flavor and to prevent soggy rice. If you are not comfortable using high heat, then use medium heat, no worries.

Before beginning to make fried rice, you need to prep all your ingredients. Fried rice is a quick process, so prepare everything in advance and place it next to your wok.

Based on the recipe or ingredients that you want to add to your fried rice, these steps can be slightly different. I will try and provide as many possible options so you can refer to them when you make your own fried rice recipes. 

Keep in mind that you want to cook fried rice in small batches otherwise, it will become soggy. You can also cook ingredients and push them to the side, or you can cook ingredients and completely remove them from the pan and place them into a bowl on the side until you are ready to add them again later to the wok with the other stir-fried ingredients.

1. First, you will heat your wok to medium high-high heat.
2. Second, you will add a high smoke point oil to your wok and let it heat up. Do not worry if the wok starts to smoke some because that can happen if you use high heat. Refer to my ingredients chapter to choose an oil with a high smoke point. (Do not use butter, it will burn) If you are using a high-fat protein (pork belly), you can add less oil to the wok.
3. Now you can either cook your egg or your protein completely in the heated wok. As you read earlier, there are different ways to add egg to your fried rice, so if you want to add egg, refer to that section. 
4. At this point, you can push the protein to the side of the pan or completely remove the protein and place it into a bowl on the side. 
5. Now you can add some more oil if necessary and make a flavored oil using garlic and green onion. You only want to cook this for a few seconds until aromatic and then you can add your vegetables to this flavored oil and cook them until tender. You can also add your aromatic ingredients like green onion and garlic after the protein is completely cooked to that fat in the pan. It is up to you when you make the flavored oil. 
6. You can now push these vegetables to the side or remove them from the wok. If needed, you can add a little oil. We don’t want too much oil to the point where your fried rice is oily, so use your discretion if there is no oil at all and your ingredient may stick, then add some otherwise, do not add more oil. Now you can add your cooled broken-up rice. Add it and smash down any pieces that are clumped together. Quickly fry the rice until it is drier and a little golden. Now you can add all the other ingredients that you stir-fried to the pan along with your seasoning ingredients and mix it with the rice. If you have been using medium heat up until this point, now is a good time to turn the heat to high to evaporate any remaining moisture from the fried rice quickly. Then optionally, you can finish it with butter or sesame oil and green onion.