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Spicy Fried Rice

A fried rice dish with coconut oil, onion, garlic, ginger, scallions, red chili, basmati rice, and seasonings.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spicy Fried Rice

Serves 3
Timeabout 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Fry the aromatics

  1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan.

  2. Fry the onion, garlic, red chili, ginger, and scallion. Stir for about 30 minutes until fragrant.

Add the rice and season

  1. Add the basmati rice, chili powder, light soy sauce, fish sauce, chicken powder, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring, until well-mixed and heated through.

Serve

  1. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

719Calories
40 gProtein
31 gFat
69 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Coconut + gingertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,168 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Basmati rice
Cooked grains fry separately, giving the dish its main texture and bulk.
Coconut oil
Fat carries heat through the pan and helps carry aroma from the aromatics.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, adding a savory base flavor.
Garlic
Releases aromatic compounds when fried, adding pungency that mellows with cooking.
Light soy sauce
Adds salty, savory flavor and helps the rice take on color.
Fish sauce
Contributes deep savory umami flavor that rounds out the seasoning.

The step that matters

Stir for about 30 minutes until fragrant. Onion, garlic and scallion can scorch during long frying, turning bitter. Constant stirring keeps the heat even so they soften and brown gently rather than burn.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coconut, onion, garlic, ginger, basmati rice, sauce, fish sauce):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against coconut, onion, garlic, ginger, basmati rice, sauce, fish sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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