Mushrooms, red onion, garlic and fresh Italian basil leaves – what’s not to like? As a devotee of mushrooms, I love experimenting with it and coming up with recipes that fill me up with joy. This quick mushroom basil fried rice recipe is a wonderful hack for a meal prepared in 30 minutes. A one-pot meal, this is a keeper. Make sure you add it to your list of easy veg recipes.
This Mushroom Basil Fried Rice is a simple, quick and flavourful recipe made with minimal and easily available at home ingredients. A one pot meal prepared under 30 minutes, this fried rice is bound to fill your home with the delicious lingering aroma of fresh basil, mushroom and authentic Chinese sauces and leave you feeling satisfied and happy.
This recipe is highly adaptable and can be customised according to your personal preferences. You can add sauces, vegetables and proteins of your choice or even increase the heat adding some red chilli powder or cayenne pepper to whip up a personal masterpiece.
I have been making this mushroom basil fried rice for a long time, so I can assure you it’s full proof. Being a stir fry, it can prove to be a boon to those who do not cook very often. Eat it as is, throw in a dash of your favourite sauces, accompany it with your favourite Indo-Chinese dishes or Thai Curries or pack it for a picnic, your call! It’s an adaptable and versatile dish that will make you fall in love with it.
Mushroom Basil Fried Rice is a vegan recipe making it a healthier choice on the spectrum and can be made with leftover rice. So, you’re not just eating healthy, you’re also reducing waste and curating something so delicious!
Cooking Rice Perfectly
In this recipe, I have used joha rice, which is a flavourful small grained rice found in Assam, India. It is starchy and has a beautiful fragrant. You can use jasmine rice too. The quality of rice can really affect your recipe. Basically any small grain rice available near you should do the trick. Broken basmati is a great choice!
For small grained rice: wash it thoroughly under running water till the water is clear. Once thoroughly washed, add it to a pan, instant pot or a pressure cooker. For 1 cup rice, use 1.5 cups of water to cook it. And once cooked, keep the rice covered for 10-15 minutes after turning off the gas. Keep the rice in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before using or overnight, and use it the next day for the best results.
Tips to Get your Fried Rice Perfect Every Single Time!
Fried rice might be a rather simple dish to make; however there are certain things that need to be kept in mind. The best fried rice is the one where the vegetables are crunchy yet cooked and the rice grains are fluffy, separated and fragrant, packed with flavour and cooked to perfection. Sometimes in order to avoid a lumpy, soggy plate of fried rice, we undercook our rice, which results into half cooked rice and trust me, no one likes a bite in their rice. Here are some tips to get the perfect fried rice every single time.
- Always use a deep dish for cooking, preferably a wok or a deep Pan. This promotes fast and uniform cooking.
- Always start cooking once the oil is smoking hot and cook on high flame throughout.
- Make sure you chop/ slice your ingredients finely to help them cook fast.
- Always use cold rice. This point cannot be stressed enough. If the rice is not cold, it sticks to the pan and makes the fried rice lumpy. It is best to use leftover day-old rice.
- Always add soy sauce and vinegar at the end, right before you remove your pan from heat.
- Always garnish after turning the stove off to retain the freshness of the herbs.
The Mushrooms are the Hero
Needless to say, the mushrooms are the hero of this mushroom basil fried rice. I have used button mushrooms which are easily and locally available around where I live. You can use any kind of mushrooms, or a combination of mushrooms. The mushrooms add a lot of earthy flavour to this fried rice and make it very delicious. One word of caution while cooking the mushrooms – do not salt them right in the beginning and do not touch them too much. These two tips ensure that the mushrooms turn crispy and not soggy.
Why this Fried Rice?
- Quick and Healthy
- Vegan
- Super Easy and Flavourful
- Highly adaptable and can be customised as per your needs.
- Travel pack friendly
- Beats restaurant food
- Home-cooked and wholesome
- Takes less than 30 minutes to make.
- Prepared with easily available at home ingredients.
Let’s take a look at the detailed recipe:
Preparation time – 15 minutes
Cook time – 30 minutes
Serves – 3 people
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- 200 grams button mushrooms, each sliced in half
- 2 medium onions, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
- 2 tsp black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Sriracha/Schezwan/Red Chilli sauce
- A handful of green onions, finely chopped
- 2 cups cooked rice (should be cold and well seperated, preferably a day old/leftover)
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- A handful of fresh Italian basil leaves
Directions
- Heat oil in a wok or deep pan. Allow it to get hot till it starts to smoke.
- Add the button mushrooms. Let the mushrooms sit on the wok for 3-4 minutes without touching them. This will help them to crisp up better. Do not burn.
- Add the sliced onions and cook till it starts turning brown and translucent.
- Add the chopped garlic and sauté till the rawness fades.
- Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Add the Sriracha sauce or red chilli sauce and cook.
- Chop the green onions and add to the rice. Mix well, but do not overcook as it needs to remain crunchy.
- Add the cooked rice and mix well till the rice combines well with everything else and heated thoroughly.
- Top it up with the soy sauce and mix gently to prevent the rice grains from breaking.
- Turn off the heat, add the fresh basil leaves and mix well.
- Garnish with scallions, coriander, more fresh basil or whatever you have!
- Serve it as is or with an Indo-Chinese or Thai side dish.
I hope you try out this quick, easy and delicious Mushroom Basil Fried Rice recipe not only to satiate your taste buds but also to help your inner chef, lost in this fast, busy life, resurface.
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