This recipe for Chow Fan (Egg Fried Rice), is our old Amah’s recipe, that mum adopted, and which was one of my favourite meals
Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
This recipe for Chow Fan (Egg Fried Rice), is our old Amah’s recipe, that mum adopted, and which was one of our favourite meals when I was growing up.
Also known as Chao Fan, it’s a Cantonese egg fried rice dish that is a staple recipe in Hong Kong and the Canton area of China.
The recipe that is shared here is probably not authentic to China, but it was what Ah Yeung used to cook for us when we got home from school.
Mainly given that she had access to Western ingredients that we used to buy from the NAAFI, and that there was always leftover cooked rice.
The smell as it’s cooking and the taste takes me right back to my childhood in Hong Kong, and it’s such an easy dish to cook too.
It’s a very versatile dish, using cold leftover rice, bacon, spring onions, frozen peas and eggs.
However, you can add all kinds of other ingredients, such as sweetcorn, prawns, peppers, ham, green beans and cooked meats.
I thought that this would be a lovely recipe to add to the recipe files here, just before the weekend, as it make a great brunch dish.
If you don’t have any bacon rashers, then you can use lardons, or diced pancetta and ham.
To make this dish veggie friendly, just omit the bacon and add chopped mushrooms, or even Quorn pieces.
Serve with soy sauce, and if you like spicy food, a good sprinkling of chilli sauce is always acceptable! Enjoy, Karen
More Recipes from my Childhood in Hong Kong
My 60’s and 70’s Hong Kong in Photos
Chow Fan (Egg Fried Rice) Recipe
Chow Fan (Egg Fried Rice)
This recipe for Chow Fan (Egg Fried Rice), is our old Amah's recipe, that mum adopted, and which was one of our favourite meals when I was growing up.
Also known as Chao Fan, it's a Cantonese egg fried rice dish that is a staple recipe in Hong Kong and the Canton area of China.
The recipe that is shared here is probably not authentic to China, but it was what Ah Yeung used to cook for us when we got home from school.
Mainly given that she had access to Western ingredients that we used to buy from the NAAFI, and that there was always leftover cooked rice.
The smell as it's cooking and the taste takes me right back to my childhood in Hong Kong, and it's such an easy dish to cook too.
It's a very versatile dish, using cold leftover rice, bacon, spring onions, frozen peas and eggs.
However, you can add all kinds of other ingredients, such as sweetcorn, prawns, peppers, ham, green beans and cooked meats.
I thought that this would be a lovely recipe to add to the recipe files here, just before the weekend, as it make a great brunch dish.
If you don't have any bacon rashers, then you can use lardons, or diced pancetta and ham.
To make this dish veggie friendly, just omit the bacon and add chopped mushrooms, or even Quorn pieces.
Serve with soy sauce, and if you like spicy food, a good sprinkling of chilli sauce is always acceptable! Enjoy, Karen
Ingredients
- 300g to 400g cooked long-grain white rice
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 8 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
- 8 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped into small pieces
- 150g frozen peas, defrosted
- 4 eggs, beaten
- Soy sauce to taste
Instructions
1. Fry the bacon and spring onions in the vegetable oil and then add the cooked rice.
2. Pour the eggs into the rice mixture and stir all the time until the eggs are cooked.
3. Add the peas and stir-fry for a further 2 to 3 minutes before seasoning with soy sauce.
4. Serve immediately in bowls with chopsticks or spoons.
Notes
NB: This is a dish that lends itself to leftovers, so mum would often add diced cooked chicken or cooked vegetables. Cooked prawns can also be added.
If you don't have any cooked rice, use 2 x sachets of microwaveable rice.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 462Total Fat 21gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 230mgSodium 1036mgCarbohydrates 37gFiber 3gSugar 3gProtein 29g
sherry says
I love a simple fried rice! Have been on that peak tram; we sat up the top deck of a bus coming down tho. The driver went so fast around the bends that the overhanging tree branches were slapping us in the face!
Melissa says
Lovely photos and memories! Thank you for this versatile recipe!
Karen Burns-Booth says
My pleasure 🙂