No.18 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Egg fried rice

Made famous by J. Kenji López-Alt

Photo: Euniceyeoh07, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From The Wok, 2022. J. Kenji López-Alt is No. 7 on the Hot 100.

Fried rice is eaten every day across Asia and is one of the most searched dishes in the world. Kenji's tests showed what really matters: dry rice, high heat, small batches.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in The Wok.

Ingredients

• 3 cups (about 450 g) cooked long-grain rice, preferably a day old and cold, or freshly cooked rice spread out to dry for 15 minutes
• 3 tbsp neutral oil, divided
• 3 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens separated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup (70 g) frozen peas and carrots, thawed (optional)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• Fine salt, to taste

Steps

1. Break up the rice with your hands so there are no clumps.
2. Heat a wok or large carbon steel or cast-iron skillet over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl.
3. Pour in the eggs. Let them puff for 5 seconds, then stir and scramble just until barely set but still wet in places, 20 to 30 seconds. Tip onto a plate.
4. Return the pan to high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice and spread it out. Let it sit 30 seconds, then toss and stir. Keep tossing and pressing it against the hot pan for 2 to 3 minutes, until the grains are hot, separate and starting to jump.
5. Add the scallion whites, garlic and peas and toss 1 minute.
6. Add the soy sauce and Shaoxing wine around the edge of the pan so they sizzle, and toss to coat. Return the eggs, breaking them up, and add the scallion greens, sesame oil and white pepper.
7. Toss 30 seconds more, taste and add salt if needed. Serve immediately.

Chef's tips

• On a home stove, cook no more than 3 cups of rice at a time or it steams instead of fries.
• Add diced char siu, shrimp or leftover chicken with the garlic.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt: get the book, No. 31 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 17Chocolate layer cake→ No. 19Pizza margherita