Pork Fried Rice

Skip the takeout and make this amazing pork fried rice at home. It’s easy, makes good use of leftovers, and is super adaptable!

What Ingredients Do I Need?

Start With Leftovers

You can use leftover pork roast for this recipe or quickly cook a pork tenderloin to use. This Chinese BBQ Pork works amazingly too.

Jasmine rice cooks quickly, and tastes the most authentic to me, but any long-grain rice will work well. Day-old rice is best because it contains less moisture, and a firmer texture after being cooked and cooled, and stays firm even after being reheated. Less moisture and firm grains of rice are important so that the ingredients are truly fried and not steamed from too much moisture in the pan. If the rice is sticking in clumps after pulling from the fridge, quickly break it up with a fork. If you don’t have leftovers, you can make Instant Pot Rice as much in advance as you can.

Get Saucy

A lot of the flavor in restaurant pork fried rice comes directly from the Cantonese BBQ pork that is used. The BBQ pork gets its flavor from Hoisin sauce, which is a sweet, dark red sauce made from fermented soybeans, and typically contains vinegar, sugar, garlic, and five spice powder as the main flavor components. 

Since this recipe uses leftover pork, I’m adding a little Hoisin to the soy sauce mixture, which gives my recipe that same Chinese takeout flavor you love.

All The Extras

I had never seen peas and carrots added to fried rice until I moved to the US from Canada. These are optional, and you can certainly add any other vegetables that you prefer, like broccoli, snow peas, or bok choy to name a few. I like to use frozen veggies for convenience.

Of course, scrambled eggs in the fried rice is a must. Other than that, I like to add bean sprouts and green onion to mine at the end of cooking.

Of course, the great thing about fried rice is that it’s so adaptable! Use other frozen or leftover veggies that are sitting in the fridge. Make it with chicken or shrimp instead. It’s all about turning your leftovers into something new and delicious.

How To Make Pork Fried Rice

To make the pork fried rice, first stir together the Hoisin, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil in a small bowl and then set this aside. This is what will flavor the rice, but we don’t want to add it too soon or it will burn from the sugars in the Hoisin sauce and honey.

A 12 or 14-inch non-stick skillet works best for the amount this recipe yields. I did try this in a stainless steel pan and also a cast iron pan, and I experienced a little bit of sticking toward the end of cooking. It didn’t ruin the recipe by any means, but it added to the cleanup time after dinner.

Heat one tablespoon of the oil over high heat until shimmering for the scrambled eggs. These cook quickly in such a large pan, so don’t walk away from the stove. Add the eggs into the hot oil, stirring constantly, until just scrambled but still slightly wet. Don’t worry, the eggs will finish cooking when they’re added back to the pan at the end of the cooking process. Transfer the eggs to a plate, and set them aside.

Add another tablespoon of the oil to the pan and let that heat up for a few seconds. Add the onion and pork and cook these, stirring constantly until the onion is just translucent. This also happens quickly, so don’t walk away from the pan. Add the peas and carrots, and stir to combine. These will thaw as the rice is fried.

Add your leftover cooked rice to the pan, along with the remaining tablespoon of oil and toss everything together so that the rice becomes coated in the oil. Fry this mixture for about two minutes, and then add the Hoisin sauce mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the moisture in the pan begins to evaporate and rice becomes darker. The rice might become caramelized in some spots, and this is perfectly okay. Stir that part of the rice and it will mix into everything.

Remove the pan from heat, and then stir in the scrambled egg, bean sprouts, and green onion. Serve this as a main dish or as a side. Any leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, up to five days.

Podcast Episode: Making Pork Fried Rice

This post originally appeared in August 2022 and was revised and republished in February 2024.