This recipe is for a tasty, flavorful yet easy and quick Fried Rice with Spinach & Mushrooms. This dish is great to make with leftover rice that you have in the fridge and only calls for a few easy ingredients. It is just as good to serve for lunch, eat for a weekday meal, weekend dinner or to make for meal prep purpose. It is vegan and gluten free.
Fried rice might sound a bit boring, and it can be. But it can also be incredibly taste, flavorful and exciting. It all just depends on how you make it and season it. This fried rice is made from leftover rice, which does not sound tempting or exciting at all. But it is! With spices and seasoning like garlic, fresh ginger, shallot, tamari, lemon juice and some white wine the leftover rice turns into a really flavorful and tasty rice yet still fresh and light. Combined with a mix of shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms and spinach you get a fried rice that has a lot of umami flavor, a lovely chewing resistance with mild, slightly sweet and earthy notes coming from the spinach. To make it taste even slightly better add a splash of dry white win with some acidity and slightly floral notes. The dry white wine pairs wonderfully with the salty flavor from the tamari and spiciness coming from the ginger and garlic. I love this fried rice vegetarian, but you can add chicken, seafood or pork to it as well. The great thing about fried rice is that you can use one recipe and vary it by using different proteins, adjusting the amount of spices or adding some heat to it. Just remember to use a wine that pairs well with the rest of the ingredients. If you’re don’t want to use wine you can use rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or vegetable/chicken stock to enhance the flavor of the fried rice.
A few tips:
- This dish is great to make with leftover rice, but you can of course also make it with freshly cooked rice. Just allow the rice to cool completely before starting the stir fry. Cold rice will become browned and crispy, while warm rice easily can turn out mushy, heavy and porridgelike.
- Rinse the rice under cold water before using it, this removes some of the starch.
- You can use almost any rice that you have at home. But preferably a rice that isn’t too starchy. I used brown rice in my dish, which is slightly more chewy than white rice, but still turns out crispy when fried.
- Break up any lump of rice before adding it to the pan, to ensure an even browning and crisping of the rice.
- Do not fry the spinach for too long, since it might lead to a mushy and bitter tasting spinach. Fry just until softened, approximately 2-3 minutes. You will add it back to the pan later on, and fry it for a few minutes more along with everything else.
- Use a dry, slightly acid and floral wine. But adjust the type of wine depending on if you add chicken, seafood, make it spicy etc.
- You can also use rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or vegetable/chicken stock instead of white wine.
Ingredients for this Fried Rice with Spinach & Mushrooms:
- Cooked rice
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Fresh ginger
- Button mushrooms
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Fresh spinach
- Sesame oil
- Dry white wine
- Tamari or soy sauce
- Lemon juice
- Scallion
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Fried Rice with Spinach & Mushrooms (Vegan & Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 4 dl Rice (I used brown rice) cooked and chilled
- 3-4 Garlic cloves minced
- 2 Shallots minced
- 1-1 1/2 tbsp Fresh ginger grated
- 4-5 Button mushrooms sliced
- 6-8 Shiitake (or more button mushrooms) dived into smaller pieces if needed
- 100 g Fresh spinach
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 3/4 dl White wine (optional, can be replaced by white wine vinegar or rice vinegar)
- 1 tbsp Tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 Scallion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Remove rice from the fridge. Or cook rice, let it cool completely and put it in the fridge for a short wile.
- Preheat a nonstick pan over medium heat with some olive oil.
- Add spinach and half of the garlic to the pan, sauté for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same pan, add a drizzle more of olive oil. Fry rest of the garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Sauté for approximately five minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer to the same plate as the spinach.
- Add a drizzle more of olive oil to the same pan. Fry the minced shallots for 30-60 seconds, until fragrant. Add the fresh spinach, stir to combine and fry for one minute more.
- Increase the heat slightly, add the rice. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until it starts to get golden brown. Add the fried spinach and mushrooms, stir together. Pour white wine (rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or stock) over the rice, let it cook on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes, then pour sesame oil, half of the scallion, tamari, lemon juice into the pan. Stir together, cook for just 30-60 seconds, allowing everything to combine and get warm.
- Divide the rice between two bowls, gently pressing down to make it hold together.
- Place a plate over each bowl, turn upside down, slowly removing the bowl. Top with remaining scallion.