Fried Red Rice with Chickpea “Egg”
Nutritious red rice, your leftover veggies, and a chickpea “egg” come together in perfect harmony for this tasty and wholesome stir fry! The cook times during the stir fry process are somewhat vague as this cooking method is fast paced, and progression of steps are best judged by the appearance of the food rather than specific cook times. Near-constant stirring is important for even cooking in this high-heat recipe.
My chickpea flour addiction has returned. If you have seen my previous recipes and articles, this will not surprise you in the slightest.
For some reason, I was craving fried rice recently. I consulted my pantry to find my bag of brown rice transformed into one large rock-hard blob. (Turns out, some kinds of rice should be refrigerated to extend shelf life — who knew! Obviously not me).
Well, that’s not going to work, I thought, as I threw the rice-rock into the trash. Off to my favorite local market, Lucky’s, I went.
Browsing through the rice section, I remembered that one of my favorite food bloggers, Pick Up Limes, uses red rice in a lot of her recipes. A quick Google search confirmed it — red rice is nutritionally superior to brown. So I tossed some into the cart and decided to give it a try, making sure to snag a few items I didn’t need on my way out.
Typical fried rice, from what I understand, includes a chicken egg along with peas and carrots. In this vegan version, I enacted full-on wing it mode by making a chickpea egg replacement and subbing in one of my favorite vegetables, mushrooms, for peas. Really, I just determined how I could incorporate the existing veggies I had on hand into the stir-fry style dish I was craving. (Read more about my approach to “wing-it” cooking and how I consistently avoid spending on takeout here).
The limited research I conducted on fried rice preceding this recipe taught me two insights that I implemented: 1. The rice should be cooled completely in the fridge after cooking, and ideally a day or more old, before being used in the stir-fry. And 2. It should be stir-fried in butter. Beyond that, I cannot claim to have flawlessly imitated true Asian fried rice — this is my unique take that was not intended to achieve a traditional result. Nevertheless, it was bursting with flavor, and it satisfied my fried rice craving.
My chickpea “egg” stuck to the pan pretty badly during the cooking process, so I ended up scrambling it instead of flipping it over before mixing the veggies back in. I wonder if it was almost better this way, making the mixture into a half-cooked paste instead of cooking both sides completely, omelette style. I will let you be the judge of which method works best for you. You may find, like me, you do not have a choice in the matter and must scramble it quickly to avoid overcooking, later finding yourself scrubbing the crap out of the wok (I exaggerate — it really wasn’t that bad).
It is rare that I have a recipe ready on the first try, but this one checked all the boxes for me. I would love to hear about your experience and/or modifications in the comments!
Gluten Free Fried Red Rice with Chickpea “Egg”
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Medium Tupperware
- Medium mixing bowl
- Wok (ideally carbon steel) or large skillet (nonstick is best if you go this route)
- Small spatula
Ingredients
For the rice
- ½ cup red rice
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
For the stir-fry
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp jalapeño diced
- ½ cup red onion diced
- 1 and ½ cup white mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup carrot (1 medium or large carrot) diced
- ½ cup canned black beans with juice
For the chickpea "egg"
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground flaxseed
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- Dash of paprika to taste
- ¼ cup coconut or other plant milk
For the seasoning
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- Juice of ¼ to ½ lime
- Chopped green onion for garnish
Instructions
- Combine red rice and vegetable broth in a saucepan and heat on high until liquid boils. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 50 to 55 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Let sit for 10 minutes off the heat to allow rice to fully soak up the broth, then cool in the fridge for 1 hour to 1 day.
- About 20 minutes before retrieving rice from the fridge, chop veggies and prepare chickpea egg by mixing dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, adding the plant milk and mixing again to combine well.
- Preheat wok or large skillet on medium-high (closer to high than medium). Once hot, add the sesame oil and swirl pan to evenly distribute oil. Once oil is hot, add red onion and jalapeño. Cook and stir for 30 seconds to release aroma, then add the mushrooms and carrots. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until mushrooms darken and begin to release liquid, and carrots start becoming tender.
- Push the veggies to one edge of the wok or skillet, and add the chickpea flour mixture to the middle of the pan. Wait for bubbles to appear and the edge of the "egg" to begin browning (leave veggies alone), then flip to the other side and cook for 30 seconds before breaking it apart and mixing the veggies back in. If the mixture sticks to the pan and will not flip, no worries. Once it has cooked on one side, "scramble" it and then mix the veggies back in. The mixture will continue to cook.
- Stir in black beans and cook 1 minute to heat through and evaporate most of the liquid. Move the mixture to one side of the wok or skillet again, add the vegan butter, and allow to melt. This is a good opportunity to loosen any stuck on chickpea mixture with your spatula if necessary (and if possible).
- Once butter is melted almost completely, add in cooled rice and mix everything to combine. Cook and stir for 2 – 3 minutes more to heat rice well. Add soy sauce and give everything a last stir, cooking 20 to 30 more seconds to infuse the flavor.
- Remove from heat, garnish with lime juice and chopped green onions, and serve!