Schezwan Fried Rice is a popular Indo-Chinese dish that is spicy and lip smackingly delicious. Serve it with vegetable manchurian for a yummy meal.
Schezwan fried rice with veg manchurian is one of our favorite Indo-Chinese combos to order at a restaurant. Both my husband and my son are big fans of both of these dishes. So I make them quite frequently at home.
My theme for this week’s blogging marathon is ‘rice recipes’. I am going to redo some of my old rice recipes with updated recipe card and photos.
Vegetarian Schezwan Fried Rice:
This is spicy fried rice that is made with tons of veggies and flavored with schezwan sauce. Homemade schezwan sauce is quite easy to make. Most of the ingredients are readily available in the pantry. If you don’t have time to make it, then store bought sauce can be used in a pinch.
Ingredients for Indo-Chinese Chili fried Rice:
Here are the main ingredients needed to make this spicy fried rice:
- Rice – I generally use sona masoori rice to make fried rice. Brown rice would be great too. I feel basmati rice has a unique flavor that doesn’t work in Indo-Chinese dishes. Most important thing to make sure is to use cold/ room temperature rice. Cook rice at least 2 hours ahead of time or make extra the day before and chill it until ready to use.
- Schezwan Sauce – homemade is the best because you can control the spice levels. But store bought sauce would definitely work.
- Vegetables – This dish can be packed with any number of vegetables. Feel free to customize it to your family likes and preferences. Any non-watery vegetables can be added like cabbage, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom, baby corn and so on are some delicious additions.
- Protein – To make this a wholesome one-pot meal, add any protein of choice. Tofu, paneer, scrambled eggs, soy granules (TVP) are great vegetarian protein options. We love crispy tofu in this dish (recipe follows).
Tips & Ideas to make quick & easy fried rice:
The most time consuming part of making this dish is getting the ingredients ready. This includes the chopping of vegetables which could take forever if you are a slow chopper.
To expedite this part of the process, I buy bagged ‘Coleslaw’ mix, which is basically thinly sliced cabbage and carrots. These are the two main ingredients needed for this dish and I don’t have the knife skills to chop cabbage that thin and precise anyway. So whenever I plan to make any type of fried rice, I simply buy a bag of coleslaw.
Also, frozen stir fried vegetable mixes are great time savers. They have onions, peppers, broccoli and other veggies that will work great in this recipe.
So once you have the cooled rice, schezwan sauce ready and veggies prepped, then the actual dish itself can be made in about 15~20 minutes.
How to make Crispy Tofu:
My kids love tofu especially this crispy fried ones. These are so crispy, addictive and delicious that half of them disappear even before they are added to any recipe. Here’s how I make them:
- Lay extra firm tofu on a kitchen towel or paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Slice the block through the middle and then cut into ½” thick pieces.
- Heat oil in a large skillet or a wok; add the tofu and cook stirring occasionally until golden brown on all sides.
- Add soy sauce, nutritional yeast (if using), salt and pepper. Mix well and cook till nice and crispy. Remove onto a plate and set aside.
Serve the fried rice with either veg manchurian or gobhi manchurian for a filling and delicious Indo-Chinese meal.
Schezwan Fried Rice | Indo-Chinese Recipe
Ingredients
For Crispy Tofu:
- 1 14oz. Block of Extra firm Tofu, drained and pressed to remove excess water
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast (optional but tasty)
- To taste Salt & Pepper
For the Fried Rice:
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1" Ginger piece, finely grated
- 2~3 Garlic cloves, finely minced
- ½ cup Scallions/ Green Onions, chopped
- 1 cup Cabbage – thinly sliced
- 1 Medium Carrot, thinly sliced
- ½ cup Green Beans, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Mushroom, thinly sliced
- ½ cup Green Peas
- 2~3 tbsp Schezwan Sauce, adjust as per taste
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- To taste Salt & Pepper
- 4 cups Cooked Rice, preferably cooked at least 2~3 hours in advance or overnight
Instructions
Make Crispy Tofu:
- Lay the tofu on a kitchen towel or paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Slice the block through the middle and then cut into ½" thick pieces.
- Heat oil in a large skillet or a wok; add the tofu and cook stirring occasionally until golden brown on all sides.
- Add soy sauce, nutritional yeast (if using), salt and pepper. Mix well and cook till nice and crispy. Remove onto a plate and set aside.
Make Fried Rice:
- Heat oil in a large bottom pan or a wok; add the grated ginger and minced garlic. Saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add all the vegetables and cook on medium-high flame until crisp tender, about 6~8 minutes.
- Stir in the Schezwan sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper and mix well, cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cooked rice and mix well until combined.
- Cook for another 3~4 minutes. Serve hot along with vegetable manchurian for a delicious and filling meal.
Notes
- I use sona masoori rice to make this dish. But brown rice would work really well as well.
- Vegetables added to this dish can be customized to ones likes and preferences. Here are a few more veggie ideas: broccoli, peppers, baby corn, cauliflower, corn, edamame etc.
Linking this to Valli’s BM# 109 and don’t forget to check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today.
Varadas Kitchen
What a treat! The fried rice with all the vegetables must be so filling. Nice combo.
Nivedhanams Sowmya
yum yum yummy!!! am drooling here!! love indo Chinese combo!!
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
Love the presentations and perfectly shaped manchurian
Manjula Bharath
I love schezwan noodles and fried rice a lot so this is a perfect treat for me, your vegetable manchurian looks lips smacking dear !!
vaishali sabnani
Best combo for Chinese lovers..I can have it any time..and even I avoid deep frying.The pan is a blessing.
Srivalli
Superb Pavani, drooling over your pictures..what a fantastically made meal!
Priya Suresh
Its dinner time here, ur fried rice is asking me to grab that bowl and have rite now..mouthwatering here.
Archana Potdar
Love the fried rice. Its awesomely made.
sneha datar
A great combination , and good pics.
sneha datar
A good combo and nice pics.
Usha Rao
Looks colorful with all those veggies. In flavorful rice.
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi
A splendid combo!
Jayanthi Sindhiya
Wow!! mouthwatering fried rice…fantastic Combo!!
Sarita
Great combo ! Looks fantastic.
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
would love this for my dinner any day
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
would love this for my dinner any day
Maha Lakshmi
Nice recipe. Its taste is so yummy! I like it. Catering Services in West Mambalam
safiya
I love Chinese recipe very much i liked the blog vey much.. Best fire and safety training institute in Tamilnadu|nebosh igc courses in Tamil nadu|construction safety courses in chennai|Industrial safety course in chennai| fire and safety course training tamilnadu|iosh managing safely course in tamilnadu
Vaishali Sabnani
The rice dish looks so wholesome , love the addition of that protein along with veggies and I like your tips , these will help to get just perfect bowl of the rice . Btw , i love your serveware , so pretty !
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth
Such a beautiful bowl of fried rice! Just reminded me that I haven’t made some in a long time… Schezwan is usually not something the girls love, but surely I love it for its kick…