Thai-Inspired Chicken Fried Rice (aka, Khao Pad Gai)

Thai food is one of my absolute favorite cuisines, and one of my go-to dishes is chicken fried rice, locally known as khao pad gai.

Fried Rice That’s SO Much Better Than Takeout!

I used to think Thai food was too complicated to recreate at home because of its complex flavors, so I never tried making this dish — until recently.

I went on an online deep dive and found a recipe that seemed simple enough. I gave it a try, and lo and behold, it was a success — dare I say, even better than takeout!

The secret is in the seasoning: You need a lot of aromatics, spices, and sauces to make this recipe work. 

Some of these include oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, onion, green onion, cilantro, and prik nam pla, a traditional sauce from Thailand.

Mix these ingredients with your chicken and rice, and you’ve got a dish that will have you hooked after the first bite!

Should You Use Fresh or Leftover Rice?

The answer is leftover rice.

Fresh rice is way too soft and tacky. When you cook it in the skillet, there’s a high chance it’ll become wet and mushy.

That’s why leftovers are the best option for this recipe. They’re cold, dry, and slightly grainy, which helps prevent them from sticking to the pan and allows them to mix better with the other ingredients.

Some Stir-Fry Techniques To Help You Out!

I know that stir-frying seems like a simple task, but there are a few tips and techniques you can use to master this cooking style.

Here’s one: use a nonstick pan. It helps retain moisture, so you won’t have to worry about your fried rice drying out.

If you don’t have a nonstick pan, you can use whatever’s available. Just be sure to drizzle a little bit of oil at the bottom. This will help keep your dish moist and shiny.

Here’s another tip for you: sauté your green onions with a lot of oil before pouring your egg. Doing this gives the veggie an aromatic boost to amp up the flavor of the dish.

Thai-Inspired Chicken Fried Rice (aka, Khao Pad Gai)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

With a couple of spices, a few cups of jasmine rice, and tender chicken, you can recreate this popular (and incredibly flavorful) Thai street food at home.

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Ingredients

• 200 grams of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (sliced into strips)
• 4 cups of leftover rice (preferably jasmine rice)
• ½ medium onion (sliced thinly)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3 chopped green onions (separate the white from the green parts)
• 2 tablespoons EACH of soy sauce and oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of palm sugar
• 1½ tablespoons of oil (peanut oil is best for this recipe)
• 2 large eggs (seasoned and lightly beaten)
• 4 lime wedges
• A bunch of cilantro
• Ground black pepper (to taste)

To make prik nam pla:

• 4 tablespoons of lime juice
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 to 4 Thai chilis (sliced thinly)
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons of palm sugar
• Fresh cilantro (optional)

Instructions

1. Before you begin cooking, make sure to have all of your prep work done. So slice your chicken and veggies. And pre-mix your soy sauce, oyster sauce, and palm sugar.
2. In a separate bowl, make prik nam pla. All you have to do is mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Then, heat your skillet (or wok, if you have one) and add your peanut oil. Stir fry your chicken until it turns into a light golden color. 
4. At that point, add your onion, garlic, and green onions (white part only). Stir for about a minute before mixing in 1 cup of your rice. 
5. Stir for another 20 to 30 seconds, then push everything to one side. On the empty side of your wok, add some oil and sauté your green onions (green parts) until aromatic.
6. Add your beaten eggs with your green onions to cook fully. 
7. After that, mix the egg and green onions with the rest of your chicken fried rice ingredients. 
8. Throw the rest of your rice inside the wok and keep stirring until everything is combined. 
9. Now, pour in your sauces and continue mixing for another minute or so.
10. You’ll notice the color change to a deeper brown color. When that happens, you can transfer your fried rice to a large bowl and sprinkle it with ground pepper and fresh cilantro.
11. Finish it off with a squeeze of lime juice, and you’re done. Congratulations! You just made khao pad gai from scratch.

Notes

Image credit to @lappdunk.

Featured image credit to @themrskathsymes.