Garlic fried rice.
I grew up on garlic fried rice, or sinangag, as we call it in tagalog.
And my mom would cook THE BEST fried rice.
She would add lots of charred garlic, egg, bacon bits, and mixes of corn, peas, and carrots. And when I was little, I remember her putting diced hot dogs in the mix—-Filipino style.
Growing up, my parents and grandparents would put hot dogs in everything for me and my sister—–spaghetti, omelettes, scrambles, soups—it was definitely a Filipino staple.
In high school, my everyday lunch was a hot dog cut in half and placed inside a large pan de sal roll with ketchup. I ate this every day!! I brought it to the basketball courts during lunch time and I would scarf that thing down before shooting some hoops.
My friends would tease me, mercilessly for eating this funny-looking lunch, but I didn’t care. That thing was good!
But now, that I’m on this lifelong crusade of eating healthy and staying lean, and now that I am more knowledgeable about the food that goes into my body, and their sometimes, unnatural, harmful ingredients—-hot dogs, white rice, and bacon just can’t be a part of my regular diet anymore.
We all know now that hot dogs are one of THE worst foods we can ever eat.
And white rice, is just too carb-heavy, and not conducive to staying lean and maintaining that flat midsection.
Of course, in my mind, nothing will ever beat my Mom’s Fried Rice, and I will always enjoy chowing down on her version of it whenever I come home to visit.
But I thought, how can I transform this beloved childhood dish of mine into a nutritious and still delicious alternative that’s healthy enough to enjoy every day if need be???
Enter… my garlic ginger chicken cauliflower fried rice!!
Traditional Filipino style fried rice calls for day-old rice, leftover meats, lots of egg, and lots of garlic.
Filipino style, I love you, and always will, but in this recipe, I’m just going to make things a wee bit healthier. Here are some of the changes:
I substitute the high carb white rice for low carb, high fiber cauliflower.
I sub the hot dog and bacon for high protein chicken breasts.
I add a whole lot more eggs into the mix, more specifically, the leaner egg whites.
And I quadruple down on my favorite entree seasonings of garlic, ginger, onions, and pepper.
And I mean lots and lots of garlic.
This combination and transformation becomes my garlic ginger chicken cauliflower fried rice.
You can stick raw cauliflower into your food processor and grind them into rice bits for this, or you can do what I did and just buy the pre-packaged cauliflower rice. This already has the cauliflower prepped and ready, and will save you the time needed to blend and eliminate the dishwashing.
Check out that peanut butter lava flowing off the mountain of rice. And once that runny egg gets cracked open, combined with the spiciness of the srirachi—–OMG, (did I just type that?!) an explosion of mouth-watering goodness!!
For this recipe, I used about 1.5 lbs of diced, lean chicken breast. This is what you’ll need for the marinade:
***Keep in mind, if you have leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken, you can use that instead. This will save you about 15-20 minutes of cooking time. If this is the case, begin the recipe instructions on STEP 5.***
I like my rice with lots and lots of garlic, ginger, and black pepper. I also used pure maple syrup for the marinade here, just to add a bit of sweetness into it. You can use any other sweetener you prefer, whether it be honey, coconut sugar, etc.
You’ll need this for the caulflower fried rice:
Some quick notes before you get started…
-I use a GreenPan, so I cook on a lower temperature than recommended because it conducts heat better than a traditional nonstick pan. Please adjust accordingly to your specific cooking pan.
-Cooking times vary when sautéing the chicken. For me and my Greenpan, it took about 16-18 minutes on medium heat. It should be at least 165 degrees when measuring with a meat thermometer. There should be no more pink inside the chicken, and clear juices running out when you pierce it. If you’re using a higher temperature, it may take shorter time.
***You can use already cooked chicken for this recipe as well. This will save lots of time. Just add it in when the eggs are fully cooked at the end (step 9).***
-you can throw in a whole egg in the circle along with the other egg whites if you prefer.
-Cook a fried egg sunny side up on a separate pan near the end of the cooking process to add as a topping just like my picture.
-I recommend using organic, natural creamy peanut butter for the topping sauce.
-The more garlic, the better!
-The more ginger, the better!
-I love lots of onions and pepper too!
-But of course, if you don’t want too strong of a garlic-ky flavor, then skip a tablespoon or so. Customize to your liking!
-To reduce garlic breath from meals like this one, have an apple slice or two right after. Studies have shown this to reduce garlic breath by about 50%!
-I like to add extra soy sauce onto the rice normally, but I find that with the marinaded chicken in there already, the added soy sauce would just make it too salty.
–Substitute coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for a lower sodium alternative.
–Refrigerate any leftovers immediately. Wrap tightly in an airtight container, it should keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
Alright then, let’s get to it!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30-40 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1.5 lbs diced chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp ginger powder
- 1-2 tbsp onion powder
- 1-2 tbsp green onions
- 1-2 tbsp black pepper
- 3 cups prepackaged cauliflower rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2-3/4 cup minced garlic
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 5 tbsp chopped onions
- 4 tbsp chopped celery
- 1 tbsp ginger powder
- 4 egg whites
- 1 whole egg (for garnish)
- 2 tbsp green onions (for garnish)
- 2 tbsp melted peanut butter
- srirachi sauce
Ingredients
Chicken:
For the marinade:
Cauliflower fried rice:
Garnish:
|
|
- In mixing bowl, mix all marinade ingredients together. Add raw chicken breasts. Mix well. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or stick in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Chop garlic, onions, celery, green onions.
- Set grill to med heat and add olive oil to pan. When ready, add chicken onto pan and saute continuously for about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
- Add olive oil to the pan then add cauliflower, frozen peas/carrots. Saute for about 5-7 minutes, tossing frequently.
- Then add the celery, onions, ginger powder, and black pepper. Saute and toss for about 5-7 minutes.
- When the rice appears tender, make an empty circle in the middle, spray some olive oil, and crack open 4 egg whites inside the circle.
- The eggs should cook as you mix in the rice with the eggs using your spatula. Break apart the egg into smaller pieces as you mix. 1-2 minutes.
- Once eggs are fully cooked, add the chicken back into the pan. Mix and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds to a minute more.
- Remove pan from the heat and rice is ready to serve!
- Cook a fried egg sunny side up on a separate pan near the end of the cooking process so it'll be ready to be topped onto your rice when done
- Using a butter knife, add some peanut butter into a small bowl and microwave it for about 30-45 seconds. Pour melted peanut butter on top of rice.
- Add chopped green onions for garnish.
- Add srirachi sauce on top for a spicy kick.
- Enjoy!
-I use a GreenPan, so I cook on a lower temperature than recommended because it conducts heat better than a traditional nonstick pan. Please adjust accordingly to your specific cooking pan.
-Cooking times vary when sauteing the chicken. For me and my Greenpan, it took about 16-18 minutes on medium heat. It should be at least 165 degrees when measuring with a meat thermometer. There should be no more pink inside the chicken, and clear juices running out when you pierce it. If you're using a higher temperature, it may take shorter time.
***You can use already cooked chicken for this recipe as well. This will save lots of time. Just add it in when the eggs are fully cooked at the end (step 9).***
-you can throw in a whole egg in the circle along with the other egg whites if you prefer.
-Cook a fried egg sunny side up on a separate pan near the end of the cooking process to add as a topping just like my picture.
-I recommend using organic natural creamy peanut butter for the topping sauce.
-The more garlic, the better!
-The more ginger, the better!
-I love lots of onions and pepper too!
-But of course, if you don't want too strong of a garlic-ky flavor, then skip a tablespoon or so. Customize to your liking!
-To reduce garlic breath from meals like this one, have an apple slice or two right after. Studies have shown this to reduce garlic breath by about 50%!
-I like to add extra soy sauce onto the rice normally, but I find that with the marinaded chicken in there already, the added soy sauce would just make it too salty.
-Substitute coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for a lower sodium alternative.
-Refrigerate any leftovers immediately. Wrap tightly in an airtight container, it should keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
**Nutritional information is an approximation using Nutrifox, information from Google, and my own calculations to the best of my knowledge. It is not the definitive values or guaranteed to be 100% accurate information. Use only as a reference.**