Don’t just add eggs to your fried rice—add some Lao Gan Ma and you won’t even need light soy sauce or oyster sauce; it’ll be wonderfully fragrant
I’ve been eating Lao Gan Ma since I was a kid. Back then I would often sneak into the kitchen to eat it, scoop a spoonful into a steamed bun, or stir a spoonful into my noodles. Even with plain white rice, as long as there was Lao Gan Ma, I could eat a big bowl—let alone when it’s wrapped in all kinds of flatbreads. Recently I couldn’t resist making a batch of Lao Gan Ma egg fried rice, and after all these years, Lao Gan Ma still tastes just the same. Every bite is pure happiness and satisfaction.
Ingredients
Steps
The carrot has already been diced. Choose side ingredients according to your own taste—celery, corn, and shiitake mushrooms are all good options.
Dice the bacon and set aside. If you don’t like bacon, you can use sausage or cured meat instead. You don’t need to add too much—just a little for flavor.
Add oil to the pan and crack in two eggs. Once the egg mixture just begins to set, break it up, stir-fry a few times, then remove and set aside.
Add a little cooking oil to the pan, then add the diced carrot, shiitake mushrooms, and bacon. Stir-fry until fragrant.
Add the rice and stir-fry. While stir-frying, press down on the rice; as it heats up, the rice will gradually loosen and separate into individual grains. For fried rice, the rice should be slightly on the firm side—day-old rice works best.
Add the pre-cooked eggs back in. To prevent the eggs from becoming overcooked and rubbery, it’s better to let them set first, break them up, remove them, and then add them back at this stage.
Add 1 heaping tablespoon of Lao Gan Ma and a pinch of salt, then stir-fry. Fry until the rice takes on color and is evenly coated with the Lao Gan Ma.
Finally, add the chopped scallions. After adding the scallions, stir-fry briefly over high heat to bring out the scallion aroma. You can be generous with the scallions—they make it extra tasty.
This super simple and delicious Lao Gan Ma egg fried rice is ready. It’s savory, fragrant, full of rich fermented black bean aroma—the taste of childhood.