Jerk Chicken Fried Rice
Jerk Chicken Fried Rice combines juicy jerk-seasoned chicken thighs withrice, scrambled eggs, peppers, peas, onions and soy sauce for a bold Caribbean-inspired twist on classic fried rice.
Ingredients
Jerk Chicken
- 1½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoon wet jerk seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dry jerk seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Fried Rice
- 4 cups cooked and cooled long-grain rice preferably day-old
- 1 small red onion chopped, about ¾ cup
- 1 red bell pepper diced, about 1 cup
- 1 green bell pepper diced, about 1 cup
- ½ cup green peas
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon butter divided
- 3 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
- 1 to 2 teaspoon additional olive oil if needed for cooking
Instructions
- Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and place them in a largebowl. Add the wet jerk seasoning, dryjerk seasoning, paprika, salt, black pepper and olive oil. Mix until everypiece of chicken is thoroughly coated. For even more flavor, you can cover thechicken and let it marinate for 30 minutes to several hours in therefrigerator.
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet or wok over medium-high to high heat. Once hot, add the seasoned chicken in an evenlayer. Cook for approximately 6 to 8minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken develops some darkcaramelization and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and setaside. Don't clean the skillet. All thatjerk seasoning left behind is going to help flavor the rice.
- Reduce the heat slightly and add 1 tablespoon butter. Crack in thethree eggs. Scramble until they're just cooked, breaking them into bite-sizedpieces. Remove the eggs and set them aside with the chicken.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet. Add the red onion, red bell pepper and greenbell pepper. Cook for approximately 2to 3 minutes. You want them slightly softened while still maintaining sometexture. Add the peas and cook for another minute.
- Turn the heat back up to medium-high. Add the 4 cups of cold cookedrice. Break apart any clumps with your spatula and toss the rice with thevegetables. Spread the rice across the hot skillet and allow portions of it tosit against the pan for 30 to 60 seconds before tossing again. This helps giveyou that fried rice texture instead of simply reheated rice.
- Pour 3 tablespoons light soy sauce around the rice rather thandumping it all into one spot. Toss everything together until the rice is evenlycoated.
- Return the cooked jerk chicken and scrambled eggs to the skillet. Toss everything together thoroughly. Let themixture cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, allowing the flavors from thejerk chicken, soy sauce and vegetables to work their way through the rice.
- Turn off the heat and add the ¼ cup sliced green onions. Giveeverything one final toss. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Serve the Jerk Chicken Fried Rice immediately while it's hot.
Video
Recipe Tips
Cold rice makes a huge difference.
For fried rice, freshly cooked hot rice contains a lot of moisture and can turn soft or mushy when you put it into the skillet.
I recommend cooking the rice ahead of time, spreading it out to cool and refrigerating it for several hours or overnight. The grains dry slightly, which helps them separate and fry much better.
Also, don't overcrowd a small skillet. Your photos show exactly what you want, rice with texture and caramelization. If the pan is too crowded and not hot enough, everything starts steaming instead.
