Fried rice is often the scapegoat for leftovers. This corned beef fried rice is, dare we say, better than the original meal of corned beef and cabbage, and it takes just 15 minutes to cook. Use leftover or canned corned beef.
Fried rice can also be made with hot dogs and vegan kimchi. Also, be sure to check out how to cook the best rice in a rice cooker.
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What to do with leftover corned beef
Whether it's the day of after St. Patty's Day or just another bountiful slow cooker meal from the night before, you may find yourself with a leftover hunk of corned beef. Corned beef is also commonly found in cans and can be a very easy pantry protein to reach for.
There is so much you can do with leftovers including:
- Reheat and eat - there is nothing wrong with a repeat!
- Corned Beef Hash - fry chopped corn beef with onion and pre-cooked diced potatoes
- Reuben Sandwiches - pile sliced corned beef on rye bread with sauerkraut & Russian dressing
- Corned Beef Egg Rolls - wrap chopped corned beef in spring roll wrappers with Swiss cheese and deep fry
- Corned Beef Fried Rice - the easiest! You just need a few simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- Corned Beef - Corned beef is made by marinating beef brisket with pickling spices and braising it for hours until it's tender. I like making it in the slow cooker. If you don't already have corned beef on hand, it's also sold in many canned varieties.
- Rice - I used brown rice, but white rice works too. Ideally, the rice is cold and been sitting in the fridge overnight. This helps keep each rice granule distinct and don't get mushy when it's sauteed in the pan. You can make fried rice with freshly steamed rice, but beware that it might become mushy.
- Eggs - Every classic fried rice has eggs. it coats each granule of rice and adds 'creaminess.'
- Oil - A neutral cooking oil with a high smoking point is ideal such as coconut or avocado oil.
- Soy Sauce - The corned beef is already salty, so just a little soy sauce helps season the plain rice.
- Garlic - I generally use fresh minced garlic, but substitute garlic powder if you don't have fresh on hand. They taste different but add different dimensions of garlic flavor that are a must have. Garlic fried rice is also a classic Filipino dish.
- Green Onion - The parsley of Asian cooking, the pop of green helps make the rice not look so bland. Separate the white part from the green part, since they will cook separately.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This recipe shows the classic method of frying rice where the rice and eggs are the last two ingredients in the pan.
Slice the green onion, keeping the bulbous white part separate from the tender green top part.
Heat a pan over medium high heat, and give the chopped corned beef a quick saute with some oil.
Add the white part of the green onion and the garlic.
Add the rice, and take some time to stir this with the beef and get each rice granule fried.
Once the rice is hot, push it to the sides of the pan to make a well in the center.
Add the eggs to the well. Gently stir the eggs in the well to cook.
Keep stirring the egg well, until the eggs are nearly scrambled. It's ok if some of the surrounding rice falls into the eggs.
Mix the eggs and rice together. Add the soy sauce for seasoning. Top with chopped green onion tops before serving.
Fried Rice FYIs
- Why do you have to cook the eggs 'separately' from the rice? Adding wet eggs to rice makes the rice mushy! Do your best to cook scramble the eggs in the center of the pan before mixing into the rest of the rice. You could also scramble them in a separate pan but that requires washing another pan.
- The green part of the green onion can be eaten raw. (You probably already knew this.) You can also cook it, but it can turn swamp green if cooked too long. I just top the rice with green onion or mix it in off the heat.
Toppings to Consider
Sometimes, fried rice (or really just a lot of one thing) gets boring to eat. Really yummy garnishes to add a contrasting sour note would be:
- sauerkraut
- dill pickles
- your favorite hot sauce
A side of kimchi or cucumber kimchi also goes with everything.
Equipment
I used a 12 inch nonstick skillet. A big well seasoned wok or cast iron skillet would also work really well. You want enough space in the pan, so you have room to stir the rice.
Storage
If you have any leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You could also freeze for up to a month.
Cooked rice is also very susceptible to bacteria, so do not leave sitting out at room temperature for extended periods of time. Check out these tips from the University of California for storing cooked rice
Helpful Tips
- Use a nonstick pan or seasoned cast iron pan for the easiest cleanup, since rice likes to stick to stainless steel pans.
- Use cold rice if you'd like the rice grains to be separate but equal. Otherwise, starting with hot rice will make a clumpy fried rice but still taste good.
- Use your choice of leftover corned beef or canned corned beef.
- Variations: Add frozen corn, peas, carrots or edamame. Add with the green onion at the end, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the frozen vegetables are heated through.
Is Corned Beef Irish?
Probably, the most common association of corned beef is with Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. In the 17th and 18th century, Ireland became a hub for corned beef production due to its abundance of cattle and lower salt tax.
Read more about the Irish history of Corned Beef from Food & Wine or Smithsonian magazines.
Corned beef is a common Filipino ingredient
Like many highly coveted meat products, corned beef eventually made its way into a can. Much like Spam became part of the lexicon of Hawaiian cuisine, canned corned beef made its way into the Filipino diet.
Specifically, it entered the portmanteau of Filipino breakfasts paired with garlic fried rice and called a silog.
This fried rice recipe is inspired by a cornsilog, as it would be called. It contains corned beef, egg, and garlic with a touch of soy sauce.
Check out this Filipino cioppino for a Pinoy take on the classic San Francisco seafood stew.
More One Pan Recipes
Corned Beef Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tb oil
- 1 ½ c corned beef chopped into ½" dice
- 3 ea green onion, white and green parts separated sliced, ¼" thick
- 2 ea garlic cloves minced, about 1 tsp
- 3 c cooked rice preferably cold; I used brown rice
- 3 ea eggs whisked
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
Optional Garnishes
- top part of the green onion
- sauerkraut
- pickles
- your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat a pan to medium high heat. Add the oil and chopped corned beef. Stir for 1-2 minutes until the beef is heated through. You don't want it to brown or dry out but just get a little bit of caramelization is nice.
- Add the garlic and white part of the green onion to the pan. Stir for about 30 seconds to bloom the garlic and cook the green onion.
- Add the rice to the pan, and keep stirring until the rice is heated through, about 3-5 minutes. It should be fully hot before moving to the next step. Turn the temperature down to medium heat if the rice starts to brown or stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Push the rice to the sides of the pan to make a well in the center of the pan. Add the beaten eggs to the well. Stir the eggs only for 2-3 minutes in the well until the eggs are scrambled and very little runny, raw egg remains. It's ok if some of the rice on the side falls into the scrambled eggs.
- Once the eggs are mostly cooked through, fold in the rice and corned beef from the sides of the pan along with the soy sauce to season the dish.
- Turn off the heat and fold in the top part of the sliced green onion.
- Serve hot with optional garnishes. I like serving this directly from the pan.
Notes
- Use a nonstick pan or seasoned cast iron pan for the easiest cleanup, since rice likes to stick to stainless steel pans.
- Use cold rice if you'd like the rice grains to be separate but equal. Otherwise, starting with hot rice will make a clumpy fried rice but still taste good.
- Use your choice of leftover corned beef or canned corned beef.
- Variations: Add frozen corn, peas, carrots or edamame. Add with the green onion at the end, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the frozen vegetables are heated through.
Food safety
- Rice should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 140 °F
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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Instead of competing, all we have to do is create.
Earl Nightingale
ABrown says
My boyfriend and son loved this! They went in for seconds and thirds. We added our Sourkraut on top of it... delish. We will be making this again.
asiantestkitchen@gmail.com says
That is so cool to hear that you made it for them and they loved it! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and providing feedback. Happy cooking! 🙂
Kathy says
Yum, Yum! Added corn toward the end and served it with hot sauce.
Thank you for this recipe .
asiantestkitchen@gmail.com says
Awesome! So happy to hear the recipe worked well for you! Corn addition sounds so good too. 🙂