15-Minute Teriyaki Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken
- ½ pound chicken breast
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of white pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch, for slurry
- 1 tablespoon water, for slurry
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
For the stir-fry
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided (high smoking point oil such as avocado, peanut, or grapeseed)
- ½ medium onion, finely diced
- ½ cup carrot
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3 cups overnight jasmine rice
- 2 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- To marinate the chicken, in a bowl, combine the chicken breast with salt and mix until absorbed. Add the white pepper, soy sauce, and cornstarch slurry and mix until evenly coated. Add cooking oil and combine.
- To make the teriyaki sauce, in a bowl, combine the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- To stir-fry the chicken, in a wok over high heat, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Add the marinated chicken and stir-fry until fully cooked, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Remove from the wok.
- To stir-fry the vegetables, in the same wok over high heat, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Add the onion and carrot and stir-fry for about 30 seconds until aromatic. Remove.
- To make the fried rice, in the wok over high heat, add the remaining cooking oil. Add the eggs and scramble until partially set. Add the rice and stir-fry for about 2 minutes until the grains separate. Return the chicken and vegetables to the wok and pour in the teriyaki sauce. Toss everything together and stir in the scallions.
Video
Notes
• Salt the chicken first: Mixing salt with the chicken first helps the protein retain moisture, keeping the chicken juicy during stir-frying.
• Cornstarch protects the chicken: The cornstarch forms a light coating that helps the chicken stay tender and prevents it from drying out over high heat.
• Prepare everything before cooking: Fried rice cooks very quickly, so having the sauce, vegetables, and eggs ready before heating the wok makes the process much smoother.
• Use high heat: Cooking over high heat allows the rice to stir-fry properly and develop better flavor instead of steaming.
• Cook ingredients separately: Stir-frying the chicken and vegetables first prevents overcrowding the wok and helps each ingredient cook evenly.
• Break up the rice: As the rice stir-fries, gently break up any clumps so the grains separate and heat evenly.
• Add the sauce near the end: Pouring the teriyaki sauce after the rice is heated helps coat everything evenly without making the rice soggy.
• Protein swap: This fried rice also works well with shrimp, beef, pork, or tofu if you’d like to change the protein.