What is "fried rice"

n. Any of very many forms of rice that has been first cooked by boiling and is then stir-fried with other ingredients

n. boiled rice mixed with scallions and minced pork or shrimp and quickly scrambled with eggs [syn: Chinese fried rice]

Fried rice is a Chinese dish of steamed rice that has been stir-fried in a wok and, usually, mixed with other ingredients, such as eggs, vegetables, and meat, and as such, often served as a complete dish. It is sometimes served as the penultimate dish in Chinese banquets, just before dessert. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with leftover ingredients (including vegetables and/or meat) from other dishes, leading to countless variations, being an economic hodgepodge like it is done with fried noodles or pyttipanna.

Many popular varieties of fried rice have their own specific list of ingredients. In Asia, the more famous varieties include Yangzhou and Fujian fried rice. Elsewhere, most restaurants catering to vegetarian or Muslim clientele have invented their own varieties of fried rice including egg fried rice and the Indonesian spicy nasi goreng (fried rice).

Fried rice is a common staple in American Chinese cuisine, especially in the form sold as fast food. The most common form of American Chinese fried rice consists of some mixture of eggs, scallions, and vegetables, with chopped meat added at the customer's discretion, and usually flavored with soy sauce instead of table salt (more typical for Chinese-style fried rice). Fried rice made in American Chinese restaurants can vary in appearance, from a dark brown appearance often seen in East Coast establishments, to a light brown appearance often seen in Midwestern American Chinese restaurants. Fried rice is also seen in other American restaurants, even in cuisines with no native tradition of the dish. The dish is also a staple of Chinese restaurants in the United Kingdom (both "sit-in" and "takeaway"), and is very popular in the West African nations of Nigeria, Ghana and Togo, both as restaurant and as street food.