Have some leftover rice in the fridge? Make fried rice! The best way to spend the day old rice.
There are many different kinds of fried rice but the spirit is to add what you have in hand! You can add minced meat, sausage, mushroom, vegetables, eggs, pickles and whatever you desire or sits in the fridge. Shrimp and egg fried rice is one of the classic flavor combination and it is also my favorite. Fried rice plus a light soup used to be the best simple comfort food for me when I was a student.
Here are some keys to good fried rice:
1. Day old cold rice instead of freshly cooked rice.
Rice that has been sitting in the fridge are easier to work with when frying them. On the other hand, freshly cooked rice might not work so well because they are still warm and wet. The rice will become mashed and sticky over the frying process with hight heat. If you have fresh cooked rice, make sure to set them a while to cooled to room temperature. It also gives time for the moisture to evaporate.
2. A little mayonnaise
Honestly, I am never a fan of mayo. However, with a little bit of mayo makes a lot of difference! It not only helps to separate the rice and also increase the flavour of the rice. Unless you really like mayo, 1 tablespoon is more than enough.
3. Fry, fry, fry!
Don’t stop and can’t be lazy for this one. Keep frying the rice with high heat all the way!

Prep Time | 3 minutes |
Cook Time | 10 minutes |
Servings |
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- 3 cups cooked rice (About 1 cup of uncooked rice)
- 7 shrimps
- 1/2 onion
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 green onion
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
Ingredients
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- In a large bowl with day old rice, mix rice with egg yolk and mayonnaise by hand until no big lumps.
- In a wok over high heat, fried the onions until translucent. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes then add eggs. Cook only 80% through. Transfer the egg, shrimp and juice into another plate.
- Add the rice in the wok, keep frying over high heat until rice are warm and the grains are separated. Pour the egg and shrimp back. Keep frying and let the rice soak up the juice.
- Add green onions and season with salt and pepper. Serve while hot!
How much oil should I use?
As much as you like, mayonnaise is counted as oil. I added about 3 tbsp oil in this recipe.