Today’s recipe, Fried Rice with Pickled Mustard Greens (Takana Chāhan), is a vegetarian fried rice. Unlike commonly served fried rice, it has a sour flavour, which comes from the pickled mustard greens.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 300g/0.7lb cooked rice (hot or warm, note 1)
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup green onion finely chopped
- 80g/2.8oz takanazuke (Japanese pickled mustard greens, note 2)
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp konbu dashi powder (note 3)
- ½ tsp soy sauce
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Vertically halve or quarter the mustard green leaves as they are quite wide. Then finely chop them crosswise into 3-4mm/⅛-3⁄16" wide pieces.
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Heat vegetable oil in a wok or a frying pan over high heat.
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Put two eggs into the wok/pan, mix quickly (note 4). When the egg is almost cooked through, add rice to the wok/pan.
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Stir-fry continuously for about a minute, breaking up lumps of rice and large pieces of egg.
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Add green onions and mix for 30 seconds, then add mustard greens.
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Stir fry for 30 seconds or so, ensuring that the vegetable pieces are evenly mixed with the rice.
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Add dashi powder and soy sauce. Mix well quickly.
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Drizzle sesame oil around the edge of the wok/pan, then mix into the fried rice by turning the rice over or tossing the rice.
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Turn the heat off and serve while hot (note 5).
1. I used medium grain rice, which is less starchy than the short grain rice such as the standard Japanese rice and sushi rice. You can also use long grain rice. If you are using Japanese rice/sushi rice, you may want to quickly rinse the rice to make it less starchy.
2. I used Japanese pickled mustard greens called takanazuke (高菜漬け). If you can’t find takanazuke, you can use pickled mustard greens from an Asian grocery store. They are made in China, Thailand, or Vietnam.
The acidity of these Asian pickled mustard greens is quite strong compared to the Japanese pickled mustard greens. So, if you are using one of these, add some soy sauce and sugar to the marinade and leave it overnight. The acidity of the pickled mustard greens becomes much milder, and the flavour becomes closer to my takanazuke. It also adds umami to the pickles.
You can also buy a pack of chopped takanazuke, which often has some chillies added to the marinade. You can use chopped takanazuke instead of whole pickled takana leaves and skip the first step of the Instructions.
3. I used konbu dashi powder to make a vegetarian fried rice. But you can use katsuo (bonito-based) dashi powder if you like.
4. The egg whites and yolks don’t have to be completely mixed. You don’t need to make the egg scrambled into pieces because it will be broken up into smaller pieces when you stir fry later.
5. I used a rice bowl to serve a dome-shaped fried rice, but you don’t have to do this.
6. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 273g calories: 365kcal fat: 14g (18%) saturated fat: 2.7g (14%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 5.9g monounsaturated fat: 4.8g cholesterol: 186mg (62%) sodium: 158mg (7%) carbohydrates: 46g (17%) dietary fibre: 2.4g (9%) sugar: 1.4g protein: 12g vitamin D: 1mcg (5%) calcium: mg (8%) iron: 3.7mg (21%) potassium: 329mg (7%)