Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Fried Rice

Jump to Recipe    Print Recipe

Smoked salmon and asparagus add a fancy touch to fried rice in this 20 minute meal.

We eat a lot of rice in our house, thanks to Jonathan. When we first moved in together, his parents bought us a rice cooker and a big bag of rice. Prior to that, when I’d cook for Jonathan at my apartment, he’d always ask, “You know what this would be good with?”

The answer was always rice.

Well, sometimes cheese, but usually rice. I even considered Better with Rice as a name for the blog.

My Lomo Saltado, Hainanese Inspired Chicken Rice, and Korean Barbecue Flavor Beef Bowls are all served with rice or incorporate rice.

Fried rice was originally created as a way to use up leftovers. You have some cooked rice left from last night’s dinner? A little bit of meat? Some veggies that are about to go bad? Fry it all up and dinner’s served.

Fresh white rice is too watery to fry well. When it’s a day old, it gets drier. I’ve also made fried rice using that frozen brown rice that’s already cooked that you microwave before eating. That type of brown rice is drier than fresh cooked white rice and works well. (Even Jonathan, not a brown rice fan, admitted it.)

Now have I ever “accidentally” cooked too much rice, so we had a bunch of leftover rice we needed to use up, so we really had no choice but to make fried rice?

Guilty as charged.

I do like the bacon and egg breakfast type fried rice. Frying the rice in bacon fat adds a smoky flavor. As for the salmon, my sister once brought me smoked salmon fried rice from a Japanese restaurant near where she lives. Since then, I’ve been interested in adding smoked salmon to fried rice. I didn’t want the bacon flavor to overpower the salmon, so I only used one slice. When I think of salmon, asparagus always comes to mind. Asparagus adds some freshness to balance out the smoky, salty flavors.

Once you have leftover cooked rice, this meal comes together quickly. I know I shared a longer recipe last week, so I wanted to balance it out with a quick and easy meal. I hope you’ll make some extra rice soon so you can enjoy this tasty fried rice for dinner, or breakfast, or an anytime snack.

Here are the main ingredients. That’s leftover cooked white rice, asparagus, eggs, sesame oil, smoked salmon, and bacon.

Here’s the asparagus cooking with the bacon.

And everything mixed together. Did I mention this is also a one-wok meal?

3.67 from 6 votes

Print

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Fried Rice

Smoked salmon and asparagus add a fancy touch to fried rice in this 20 minute meal.

Course Dinner, Main Dish

Cuisine Asian

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2

Author Tara Leung

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons grapeseed or canola oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 slice bacon, chopped
• 6 ounces asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
• 3 cups leftover cooked rice
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, torn into bite size pieces
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

1. Heat grapeseed oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Scramble the eggs. Remove eggs from wok and set aside.
2. Cook bacon in the same wok over medium heat until browning, about 4 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook 3 more minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add rice to the wok. Stir to mix everything, breaking up the rice. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
4. Add the scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and sesame oil to the wok. Mix everything and cook 3 more minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is slightly crispy and the food is heated through.

Bon Appétit!