Red Vietnamese Fried Rice

1. Ham – I use store-bought pre-chopped ham for convenience. Alternatively any ham you have chopped yourself works great (thick-cut is best, if you can). Bacon could also be used.

2. Rice – Any rice can be used (white, brown, basmati) but jasmine is popular in Vietnamese food. Overnight refrigerated or frozen (and thawed) cooked rice is best for fried rice to achieve the right texture. Freshly cooked rice is too moist and your fried rice will clump and become too sticky. The taste is fine, but texture is not ideal! If it’s a fried rice emergency (and it happens….), cook your rice of choice, spread on tray to rapidly cool. Then refrigerate for as long as you can until cooled.

{PS I always have bags of frozen cooked rice in the freezer. I get the shakes if I’m out.}

3. Fish sauce is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine and adds extra flavour. Don’t worry, the fishiness is cooked out. Sub with more soy (but it ain’t really Vietnamese if you skip it!! Just sayin’…. 🙂 )

4. Soy sauce – Light or all-purpose soy sauce. Not dark soy, it’s too strong!