Easy Fried Rice Recipe – How to Make Arroz Frito Cubano!

Hello and welcome back to the Redneck Cuban kitchen, where today we are going to be making a super easy fried rice recipe. One that I grew up thinking this was some invention my mom would do every once in a while. I am talking about Arroz Frito Cubano or Cuban fried rice! I didn’t realize this was a thing until I was a teen and I found out that all my Cuban friends were also having Arroz Frito Cubano! I remembered like it was yesterday. I was over at my friend Mike’s house doing some homework. His dad walked through the door and asked his mom, what’s for dinner? To what she replies Cuban fried rice! I said to myself, what the hell? I thought that was an invention only my mon did!

So, what is Cuban fried rice? I spoke to several people as I do for every video during the research phase of the production. I like to ask and talk to folk of different economic statuses and from different parts of Cuba. As often is the case, the story changes from individual to individual, but as you put it on paper, you can see the lineage and similarities, and that is how I create my content. Cuban fried rice is a throwback from the 1800s when hundreds of thousands of Chinese contract workers migrated to the island. Everyone I spoke to agrees that Arroz Frito Cubano is a dish influenced by Chinese immigrants and one that became a staple with the working class. It is traditionally made on Thursday from the week’s leftovers as a way to tide you up to payday. In my house, this was the exact reason for having Cuban fried rice

I can’t tell you how many times I have had an unexpected guest stop by the house, and this has been my go-to dish. It is ready in 5-minutes and is one of the easiest fried rice recipes I know. With that said, many who have seen me make it say that this is Korean-style fried rice. Others say it is Vietnamese and even Japanese! I have no idea to what culture this dish belongs. All I can say is that it is not my recipe, but rather how I learned to make fried rice!

• To make this fried rice, you will need about ½ cup of pre-cooked white rice per person. After many years of making this, I can say the part boil or long rice has yielded the best results! It is also ideal that the rice is not fresh! If you plan to make this, I strongly suggest you make the rice ahead of time and put it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours overnight is better.
• You are going to need between 3-6 oz. of protein. That can be pork, chicken, sausage, ham, or shrimp! However, if you are using shrimp, you will be adding them later on in the dish with your onion and garlic. If you notice, I skipped BEEF that’s because it tends to get tuff and even though I have a shortcut for that is not really my favorite.
• The EGGS! You will need two eggs for the first cup of rice and one additional egg for every cup after that! Although you could make this a single serving with ½ cup of rice, the recipe can easily get skew and out of balance. I suggest making a minimum of 1 cup of rice.
• The Veggies! I pressed many people on the list of ingredients for this fried rice recipe. I could not find one person to acknowledge that Cuban friend rice included snow peas and mini corn cons (sometimes called baby cron) even though these are common ingredients in Chinese fried rice takeout in the US. The majority of Chinese immigrated to Cuban, are Cantonese, and Hakka, where snow peas and baby corn don’t seem very popular. Something else to consider is that snow peas and baby corn are not very popular on the island. That seems to be more of an American fried rice thing. Almost everyone mentioned carrots and green peas, and I have to tell you that frozen ones work the best! With that said, I think that snow peas and baby corn are a great addition, so if you want to splurge, please be my guess!
• Onions & Garlic! I know that many people don’t like onions, but they play a significant role in this dish. The key is large size dice, and don’t overcook them. You want them translucent and sweet but with a little bit of a bite. The garlic is not 100% required, I have made fried rice without it, but its nuttiness plays well with the soy sauce and why we find it in so many Asian soy-sauce based sauces.
• Cookware! Many people tell me that they don’t make fried rice because they don’t have a WOK. That is a lame excuse. Yes, a WOK is nice, but you can do without it unless you are heavy into Asian cuisine! I have been making Cuban fried rice for over three decades, and I have never owned a WOK! While a WOK may not be necessary, a large flat edge spatula is almost a requirement. The one I am using on this video is 5-inches across, and consider avoiding anything smaller than four!

1. As I said before, this easy fried rice recipe takes about 5-minutes to make. One easy way to get this wrong is by overcooking it! It would be best to have everything ready to go because you will not have time to dice onions, garlic, and things like that!
2. Let s start by cracking our eggs in a large mixing bowl. We are going to beat them until there are no traces of egg white. We will then add the rice and mix it until every grain is covered. Set it aside, and let’s work on the protein.
3. The cooking time for this part depends on the type of protein you use. Pork and chicken may take a little bit longer than ham or smoked sausage, but one thing you don’t want to do is cook large chunks. Everything should be dice into small ½ inch pieces. To cook this, we’ll add one tsp of olive oil and one tbs of butter on a large, deep saucepan. Please bring it to temp over medium-high heat, add your protein and cook until it starts to brown. At which time we are going to add the rice – egg mixture.
4. When your rice – egg mixture hits the pan, you need to crank the heat to high and start working it with the flat edge spatula. The objective is to try to get the egg to cook asap, and when this is accomplished, you will notice the mixture starting to dry up.
5. That is the trigger point to add our onion and garlic, which will add moisture and keep it from sticking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes while stirring the rice or until the onions start to look translucent. At which time, you will add your frozen veggies and continue to work the mixture. Cook your veggies for like 1-2 minutes before proceeding. If you are making fried rice with shrimp, this is the stage where you will add the shrimp. This may add an additional minute or so, but the shrimp will start turning pink in no time, letting you know they are cooked!
6. At which time, we can start adding small amounts of soy sauce. A little bit at a time until you have achieved the color and taste profile you like. Take it off the stove and serve!

From start to finish, this easy fried rice recipe takes about 4-6 minutes, depending on what type of protein you use, and in many cases, it rivals many of the takeout restaurants in my area. Not only that, this was made with nothing but leftovers! Thank you for watching, and please join us on Facebook at the Cuban Food Nation group! My name is JC, and this is the Redneck Cuban Kitchen wishing you good eats and hopping you try this recipe soon!