This Taiwanese Sausage Fried Rice recipe was debuted at the MINNESOTA STATE FAIR in 2023 using locally made and grown ingredients, but you can easily switch out the meat and use whatever is available to you, that’s why fried rice is magical and loved by so many.
Making fried rice is a great way to use up leftover ingredients and “clean the fridge” as we’d say in Taiwan. I wanted to be flexible and use whatever was in season locally but still make something with ultimate Taiwanese flavor, that’s why I chose to make fried rice. Unlike most fried rice at American-Chinese restaurants, my mom’s version of fried rice is usually loaded with vegetables, so is this recipe. Round cabbage is the most common vegetable in fried rice, but you can also add green pepper, bokchoi, corn, or other vegetables to the fried rice.
When testing the recipe, I learned the trick to fried rice is actually patience. You don’t need high heat, but you need to take time breaking the rice apart as you cook and before adding each ingredient, making sure the steam is able to escape so you don’t end up with mushy rice.
Honestly im not a huge fan of fried rice, but I could eat THIS one anytime. Garlicky, a little sweet, with a hint of spice from the Taiwanese sausage. This is a flavor you’ve never tasted I’m sure because I’ve only tasted it in my mom’s kitchen. 😭 I had all the feels when I tasted it for the first time while doing R&D.
Chef Demo at the Minnesota State Fair
I feel extremely lucky to be able to collect such an experience and memory under my sleeve. I’m a traveler who’s all about unique experiences and learning about local cultures and it really doesn’t get any bigger nor FIRE for a local experience than COOKING UP A CHEF DEMO at the Minnesota State Fair while being in Minnesota! 💖
It was hot but I had a blast! A huge thanks to @renewingthecountryside for this invite, @ootorisushi for being my rice sponsor and volunteer, @seanarcherphoto for these photos and my biggest cheerleader, @graisefarm for the duck eggs, and @taiwanesesausages for the sausages.
Some highlights from the demo at the Minnesota State Fair:
🍚 ” this is the best fried rice I’ve ever tasted”
🍚 “i usually hate fried rice but this is AMAZING.”
🍚 “I didn’t know you can add vegetables and cabbage to fried rice”
🍚 *People’s face when I started talking about how we eat raw garlic with Taiwanese Sausages in Taiwan*
🍚 seeing familiar faces 😭
Ok, enough talking. Let’s cook!
Ingredients
- 2 Taiwanese Sausages or ham, bacon, spam, other meats
- 3 C Cold cooked Rice leftover from the fridge is great
- 1 – 1/2 C Cabbage 1/4″ Diced
- 1/2 C Onion 1/4″ Diced
- 2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground White Pepper
- 4 Cloves of Garlic Minced
- 3 Sprigs of Green Onion sliced
- 2 Graise Farm Duck Eggs (or 3 chicken eggs)
- 3 Tablespoon of Graise Farm Lard or neutral oil such as canola
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook thawed Taiwanese Sausages with 1/2C of boiling water with a lid on high heat, about 6 minutes. Strain, reserve the sausage water about 1/4C, and dice the sausages into 1/4″ cubes.
- Crack and beat the duck eggs in a bowl, with a small pinch of salt.
- In a wok or a non-stick pan, heat up 2 tables of lard on medium heat, add the diced Taiwanese Sausage, stir-fry until golden on the edges. Remove the sausages from the wok.
- With the same wok, turn the heat up high, add the beaten eggs and the cold rice on top. Flatten with the spatula, breaking up any rice lumps. You may need to add another tablespoon of lard around the edges.
- Add soy sauce from the edges, one tablespoon at the time, mix and stir fry the rice well.
- Add a pinch of salt, white pepper, sausage, onion, and cabbage to the wok and stir fry on medium heat. Breaking up any more lumps, stir frying to make sure steam is able to escape.
- Once the rice mixture feels dryer after the steam from the vegetables have escaped, add the reserved sausage liquid, 2 tablespoon at a time, making sure the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fluffy after each time.
- Add the minced garlic, give it a quick stir-fry until it doesn’t smell completely raw, about 10 seconds.
- Taste test, add more salt to taste.
- Add the green onion, turn off the heat and stir. Your fried rice is ready to be served.
