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How To Make Singapore Style Fried Rice
This Singapore fried rice recipe will be your new Friday fakeaway favourite! Rice stir-fried with vegetables, prawns, pork and chicken is not only easy to make but is very tasty too. Find out how to make this popular UK takeaway classic below!
I love making Chinese takeaway dishes at home! It’s quick to make, it’s so easy and it requires minimal effort. Singapore fried rice is just another Chinese takeaway favourite that you can make in a matter of minutes.
It’s a great main meal but also serves well as a side. I sometimes have Singapore fried rice on its own or serve it with this honey chilli chicken and these roasted tenderstem broccoli for a delicious feast.
It’s the perfect recipe to use up leftovers such as cooked meats, vegetables and spare rice. Plus, it’s ready to eat in just 20 minutes!
What Is Singapore Fried Rice?
Singapore fried rice is a fast-food favourite and is available in many Chinese takeaway shops. It’s a spicy fried rice dish flavoured with garlic, curry powder, soy sauce, meats, prawns and vegetables.
The rice has a distinctive and vibrant yellow colour derived from the curry powder, which also gives the rice a curry base flavour. Whereas classic Chinese fried rice recipes use oyster sauce and soy sauce for their distinctive flavour profiles.
Watch How To Make It
What’s In Singapore Fried Rice?
Singapore fried rice has a range of proteins including pork, chicken and prawns. It’s usually flavoured with curry powder and other spices such as chicken powder and salt. It also contains scrambled eggs and vegetables like peas, carrots and spring onions too.
In other words, it has a little bit of everything!
Is Singapore Fried Rice Spicy?
This fried rice recipe has a low to medium spice level, the heat comes from diced chillies and I tend to use a low or medium curry powder. You can alter the heat and spice level by using a low, medium or hot curry powder and by choosing milder chillies or even bell peppers.
Singapore Fried Rice Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients you need to make this Singapore fried rice recipe:
- Cooked Rice: I like to use either Jasmine rice or basmati rice. You can use any long grain rice, just make sure it’s been cooked the day before or use cooked packet rice.
- Egg: If you don’t like eggs in your fried rice, then you can leave this ingredient out.
- Prawns: I used cooked king prawns in this recipe, you can also opt-in for smaller prawns usually found in the frozen section in supermarkets.
- Chicken: Use boneless chicken breast or thighs, dice the chicken into small chunks. I like to marinate the chicken in a mixture of 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper before frying. If you have leftover shredded chicken, then you can use that instead.
- Char Siu: Char Siu is barbecued pork which is roasted until cooked. If you don’t have Char Siu, you can use any leftover pork meat. I like to use pork lardons, it’s a great replacement (and it’s what I use in this recipe).
- Vegetables: Peas, chillies, spring onions and garlic are used in this recipe.
- Fried Rice Seasonings: To add flavour to the Singapore fried rice: soy sauce, salt, curry powder, sugar, chicken seasoning and sesame oil are added to create the Chinese takeaway style taste. Instead of sesame oil, you can use chilli oil for an extra kick of heat.
What Is The Difference Between Singapore Fried Rice And Special Fried Rice?
Wondering what’s the difference between Singapore fried rice and special fried rice?
Singapore fried rice is an Indo-Chinese street food and a popular UK takeaway dish. Rice is stir-fried with prawns and meats such as pork and chicken. It’s also flavoured with spices such as curry powder. Despite the name, this dish doesn’t have much to do with Singapore.
Special fried rice on the other hand is also a popular takeaway dish, it’s stir-fried rice with chicken, prawns, pork and vegetables. The difference is no curry powder is added to special fried rice.
How To Make Singapore Fried Rice
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make the best Singapore fried rice. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card. The key to this dish is preparation, if all your ingredients are prepped, then this dish will be ready to eat in minutes!
Step One:
Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over a medium to high heat. Fry the diced chicken for 1 to 2 minutes or until the outside is cooked, then add the prawns and pork and fry for a further 1 to 2 minutes.
Step Two:
Push the prawns, chicken and pork to one side of the wok and pour the whisked egg at the opposite side. Leave the egg to set for a few seconds before stirring it into small pieces.
Once the egg is cooked, remove all the ingredients from the wok and set it aside for later use.
Step Three:
Add more oil to the wok and fry the diced chillies and garlic for 30 seconds before adding the peas and diced carrots. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the carrots have softened.
Add curry powder, salt, sugar and chicken powder to the vegetables and mix until evenly distributed.
Step Four:
Add cooked rice to the wok and stir fry until the rice turns yellow, then pour soy sauce and sesame oil onto the rice and mix until evenly distributed.
Step Five:
Pour the cooked prawns, chicken, pork and egg mixture back into the wok and mix until evenly distributed. Sprinkle with spring onions and that’s how to make Singapore fried rice!
My Top Tips
- Use Day Old Rice: Whenever I make this recipe, I always boil rice a day before and leave it to cool in the fridge. As the rice cools, it will firm up being easier to separate when frying the next day.
- Use Microwavable Rice If You Have No Time: If you don’t have the time to boil rice the night before, you can use packet microwavable rice (it works amazingly!).
- Use A Wok: I love cooking fried rice in my wok, it’s traditional in Chinese cooking and it’s very good at dispersing heat. If you don’t have a wok, you can get one like this.
- Break Clumps Of Rice Before Cooking: It’s best to break any clumps of rice before frying, it makes it easier to separate and stir when frying.
How To Make This Recipe Vegetarian
If you’re vegetarian or simply want to make this recipe without piles of meat, you can take the meat out and increase the number of peas and carrots in the recipe. Or, you can add a wider range of vegetables like baby sweetcorn and mushrooms.
You can also swap the prawns, chicken and pork with Quorn, tofu or other meat-alternatives.
More Recipes
I love making takeaway style recipes like this Singaporean rice, below are a few more easy fakeaway recipes to try: