If you’re new to my website or Caribbean cuisine you’re probably wondering how does fried rice relate to the Caribbean. Our cuisine is heavily influenced by the many faces who make up our unique culture. With over 150 years of Chinese history in the Caribbean, our Chinese style food may be a bit different to what you’d find else where, but I assure you that we’ve been very busy over those years and (IMO) perfected many Chinese dishes. Ask any Tringbagonian, Guyanese or Jamaican (countries where there’s a heavy Chinese population) about this and they will only confirm what I’m saying
You’ll Need…
5 cups cooked rice (see note below)
1 lb chicken (chicken breast)
1 cup diced carrot
2 scallions (chopped finely)
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves of garlic crushed or grated
1 teaspoon grated ginger
3 tablespoon vegetable oil (divided)
3 tablespoon dark soy sauce *
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 large onion diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup bean sprouts
1 tablespoon shado beni (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
Notes: I used white rice, which was cooked in salted boiling water. For best results place the cooked rice in the fridge to chill before using. This will give you a lovely grainy texture (no clumping) and remember when cooking the rice, stop the cooking process when it’s about 95% done, so it’s not soggy. Start off with 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, but depending on how dark you want the finished chicken fried rice, you may need to adjust. Please dice the scotch bonnet pepper very finely and don’t include any seeds. We simply don’t want the raw heat.
Tip. To get the chicken sliced thin, when it’s still a little frozen use a sharp knife and you’ll be better able to get thin slices since it will be firm.
The first thing we need to do is to season the sliced chicken with the 5 spice powder and black pepper. Mix well and let it marinate for a few minutes. Heat your wok or non stick frying pan (you’ll need a large one) on med/high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the veg oil then add the seasoned chicken. Since we’re working with fairly high heat, remember to stir and it will cook in about 3-4 minutes. Now remove and set aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of veg oil to the wok, then add the diced onion and grate in the garlic and ginger. Let that cook for a minute, then add the diced carrots, bell peppers and celery. Cook for about 3-5 minutes. Now add the diced scotch bonnet pepper and soy sauce.. followed by the pre cooked chicken and sesame oil. It will go very dark… that will change soon.
Now it’s time to add the rice (make sure you chilled it a bit so we get that grainy texture) and stir well. Since the rice is already cooked, all we’re doing is heating it through and infusing it with the main flavors of the fried rice.
Now it’s time to add the remaining 3 ingredients. Add the bean sprouts and toss, then top with the finely chopped scallions and if you were able to source the shado beni (see West Indian, Asian or Latin grocery stores.. may also be called Culantro) and cook for a minute or 2. That’s it.. you’re done.
As you can tell this can be a one pot dish with all those lovely vegetables, chicken and the rice itself. With such a large batch it can easily feed 6-8 people and I assure you, they will all be satisfied. Remember to taste for salt, but the soy sauce should add enough sodium to make this ideal (but you can adjust if you want more). If you find that the rice is a bit too pale for your liking you can add a tablespoon more soy sauce to darken it up a bit. If you have some frozen peas you can also add a cup of that for extra vegetables. Speaking about vegetables, did you know that my vegetarian fried rice recipe video is one of the most popular on Youtube?
Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.
Hi Chris,
I love your site and recipes. My Family is from Antigua, but I’m in Los Angeles now and need your help. I don’t know how to cook the food I love to eat accompanied by the fact that I’m so far from my Family in New York and Antigua. I’ve tried a few chicken and combination fried rice recipes but I can quite get it to have that restaurant quality taste. I tried your recipe for chicken fried rice but it didn’t have much flavor. As you mentioned the 3 TB of dark soy may be too much and it was too much but I wanted to stick to the recipe the first time before I made any changes. I will experiment with changes but I like your ingredients.
Thanks,
Oscar
Hi Chris,
Let me start by saying thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you, I now look forward to cooking. I’m American, mother is Jamaican and father is Guyanese. This website is like a cookbook from my ancestors. Yesterday I made your curry pork recipe with dahl w/rice and right now the chicken is defrosting to make this recipe with the leftover rice. Excited to see what I’ll cook tomorrow. Thanks a million!
Hi chris this is actually my first time on your site, but I tell u I have learned so much. I just made my own chicken vegetable fried rice and quest what? It so great
Hi Sir I really appreciate you and your recipes…you’ve added a lot of flavor and variety to me life lol…thanks to you my hubby who’s an american now eats left overs and compliments my food…really appreciate you…and as a result of your recipes i’m now confident as a trinidadian to cook trini food that taste delish lol…thank you
Yummy dish!……..This was very good and a little unusual which made it quite interesting. However, unless you have the cooked rice already available, it's not going to be ready in the 12 minutes stated.
Hey Chris looks amazing and will definitely try this recipe. Is that Baked or BBQ chicken that was served on the side?
Really appreciate this website. I have taught me the skills from my mom while growing up, especially the baking part. This is my go-to website to know how to keep my husband happy with piece of my heritage. Keep up the good work Chris.
hi Chris my favorite all time chicken recipe is chicken fried rice I made it already and it was just Great also chicken curry.I hope you choose me for the cook book contest.thank you .Colette Daniels
Love this recipe, looks like a dish my husband and I would both enjoy. Will give it a try the next time I am making fried rice…..Thanks Chris 🙂
Hi Chris I love the way you cook also how you explain everything in detail.i got your website from a friend and is hooked on it thank you sooooo very much keep up the good work. Thanks again Chris.
This is the best site for Caribbean recipe… please don't stop keep up the great work
chris I so love everyone of your recipe keep up the good work my husband love me more with my cooking and your recipe. thank you
Joan
that looks so great. i have to try it
What type of chicken is dat on the sde? Looks nice. Is the recipe for it on the site.
I am soooo try this!