7 Tips to make Best Schezwan fried rice Veg

Everyone loves Indo-Chinese dishes for their aroma, spice, and flavors. Schezwan fried rice veg is one of the popular and favorite Indo-Chinese cuisine.

My first attempt at cooking fried rice is an experience to share, LOL! It was during my bachelor days, all on my own for the first time. I had eaten fried rice plenty of times and had also seen the process at street stalls. Looking at fried rice getting ready in minutes, I thought it would be very simple. So, I followed the same at home too, added little oil to the wok, next veggies, cooked rice, and sauces. The rice started to stick to the wok and it turned out mushy. It looked like a khichdi than fried rice. LOL! It was a complete disaster.

Eventually, my cooking skills improved. Now, I can say that fried rice is one of my favorite Indo Chinese rice recipes.

After many experiments, I realized that cooking fried is easy in theory but has a wide margin of error. Making fried rice the right way does take a little know-how. My recipe has the secrets and tips to make fabulous Schezwan fried rice veg.

What is Schezwan Fried rice veg?

Schezwan Fried rice is one of the most popular fried rice varieties from Indo-Chinese cuisine.

Veg Schezwan fried rice is a family favorite. Just the spice level varies depending on who all are eating.

The making process is similar to Chinese Fried rice, with one special ingredient “Schezwan Sauce“. So, you can say, it is a spicer version of fried rice. Spicy chili-garlic flavored is a perfect dish for a spice lover.

It is a vegetarian stir fry dish where cooked rice is tossed along with finely chopped vegetables, and a spicy schezwan sauce. The main ingredient of this dish is Schezwan sauce which gives the rice color and flavors.

I like to use homemade Schezwan sauce. The recipe from scratch is mentioned below. However, you can use ready-made too. Will suggest Chings Schezwan Chutney (not sauce). It is easily available in supermarkets and online too.

What is Indo-Chinese or Indian Chinese?

Indo-Chinese cuisine originated in Kolkata. Hakka community (immigrants from China) who settled in Kolkata started Indian Chinese which is an interpretation of Chinese food and adaptation to the Indian palate. Further, a different region is India have added their own twist.

Lack of Chinese ingredients led to several innovations:

Schezwan sauce is made with dry red chilies as a substitute for authentic Sichuan peppercorns.

Manchurian style cooking – where meat (chicken) or Indian vegetables or paneer are coated and fired. Next tossed in a spicy gravy made with Chinese sauces, Indian spices (ginger, garlic, green chilies, black pepper) and thickened with cornstarch.

Triple Schezwan fried rice veg – Triple Schezwan is a combination of rice, noodles, and manchurian gravy served as one and hence the name Triple. This is my favorite. Will share the recipe soon.

The innovations are not close to the traditional food served in China. But who cares! Because of the taste of all rice, noodles, and gravy-based dishes, Indian Chinese food is available everywhere. Even many of Non-Chinese restaurants also have an Indo-Chinese section on their menu.

About the recipe

The most common cooking method of Indo-Chinese is stir fry, a quick and simple method. All you have to do is add the ingredients in a blazing hot wok and toss on high heat for 1-2 minutes to create wok-hei. So keep all the ingredients ready with you beforehand. Also, it is better to use a pan or wok with a handle as you have to frequently stir and toss (if you can).

Because of stir fry, the vegetables are tender, crunchy and most of the nutrients are intact.

The veggies used in restaurant style Schezwan fried rice veg are diced carrot and french beans. While making fried rice for kids, you can mix corn, peas, paneer, diced french beans, and carrots as it is a convenient combination to add shapes and colors.

Reasons to make it

Great way to use leftover rice

Quick and Simple to make

If you have cooked rice, it gets ready in 10 minutes

Spicy and bursting with flavors

A complete meal in itself

Pure comfort food

Great for quick lunch or dinner

How to make Chinese Schezwan sauce at home

Schezwan sauce is a spicy, tangy, and bursting flavor of garlic and ginger. It is also commonly called “Schezwan Chutney“.

The sauce is one of the popular sauces in Indo-Chinese cuisine. It can be served as a sauce along with spring rolls, momos, snacks like samosas or pakoras or used to make soup, fried rice, noodles, or starters.

Schezwan chutney can make any dish taste better. It is also used in South Indian dishes like Schezwan idly, Schezwan dosa.

Make it once and refrigerate for about 3-4 weeks in an air-tight container or freeze in small portions for up to 6 months.

Ingredients to make Authentic Indo-Chinese Schezwan sauce

The key ingredient is dry red chilies. The type of red chili you choose to make the sauce will determine the color and spice level of the sauce.

I have used Kashmiri Red Chilli for vibrant red color, other option is Dry Bedgi Chilli.

Other ingredients are oil, garlic, ginger, celery/thick coriander stems, a pinch of sugar, soya sauce, vinegar, tomato sauce/ketchup, salt. You can add ajinomoto or MSG to increase the umami flavor, but it’s optional.

Many fine-dine restaurants add Aromat seasoning powder or Aromatic mix powder. Different brands are available online.

How to make Schezwan Fried rice Veg

Heat a wok. When super hot, add oil and swirl around the wok. Remove the extra oil and let there be 1 tbspn oil.

Add chopped garlic, ginger, and dry red chilly. Saute for a few seconds.

Add the spring onion whites and chopped veggies. Turn the flame to high and saute for 30-60 seconds.

Turn the flame to low and add cooked rice.

Next, add schezwan sauce, tomato sauce, black pepper powder, soya sauce, and vinegar.

Turn the flame to high and mix everything well. Let the rice sit for about 10-20 seconds and mix. Stir till the rice starts to make a crackling sound. Taste and add salt if needed. Lastly, add spring onion greens.

Schezwan Fried rice veg is ready to relish.

7 Tips to make Best Schezwan fried rice veg

Each chef has a secret recipe, but there are certain important techniques and tricks that are commonly followed while preparing fried rice.

If you understand and follow them, you can cook the best-fried rice at home. The tips will elevate the simple Sechzwan fried rice veg to the next level and will transform you into an expert.

• Right type of Rice

Rice used at restaurants is long grain. You can use medium to long grain rice. The texture of cooked rice is important to make fried rice- well-separated grains with a bite. I follow this how to cook basmati rice method on the stovetop.

A day-old rice is the best for Schezwan fried rice veg. So plan ahead and cook the rice a day before or at least 8-12 hours before.

Do not use freshly cooked rice. It is hot and moist. All of those things will make your fried rice mushy and soggy. A trick to using freshly cooked rice is to dry out the moisture. Once the rice is done, spread it on a plate and let it cool completely. Next, can put the plate in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

• Use widest pan/wok

The Chinese wok has a wide and bigger surface area, so mixing the fried rice is easy.

For me, Indo-Chinese is all about the drama that happens in a wok (thin-bottom cast iron) – the aroma of Indian spices, the sound of sizzling vegetables, a bit of smoke while stir-frying.

Do not crowd the wok. While stir-frying, you will see the ingredients flying everywhere. Will suggest cooking one to two servings at a time.

• Make the wok non-stick/Grease the wok

You do not want the ingredients to stick to the wok, it will be the most annoying thing to happen. So, you need to grease the wok well to make it into a non-stick wok. The way you do it is

i) Heat the wok till it starts to smoke.

ii) Add a ladle full of oil (room temperature) to the hot wok and swirl around.

iii) Then pour the heated oil into a heatproof container.

• The Heat/Flame

While making any fried rice, always cook the veggies and rice on high flame. It is essential to produce restaurant-style excellent Schezwan fried rice veg at home. The high flame does two things:

i) ensure the vegetables are crunchy and there is a bit of charness to them

ii) helps to evaporate any extra moisture from the rice and sauces used.

• Add sauce over the rice

In most of the recipes, it is mentioned to add sauces after adding the veggies. But this makes the veggies lose their color and gets covered with the color of sauces.

Instead, add the sauces after adding the rice. This will retain the color of veggies as seen in the pics above.

• Do not overdo the sauces

Schezwan fried rice veg tastes good when kept simple. The dish is all about rice and the ingredients that enhance the flavor.

Do not get tempted to add lots of sauces. Because of over moisture the fried rice will turn soggy.

• Let the fried rice sit in the wok

When you put the rice in, don’t stir it too much. Let it sit for about 10-20 seconds and stir so that the rice is in contact with the pan. This will give you that restaurant flavor and texture.

Your Veg Schezwan fried rice is done when the grains practically dance-off or sizzle in the wok.

What to eat with Schezwan Fried rice veg?

The dish is fantastic in itself. But, you can always pair it with side dishes for extra flavors and textures.

I like to top Schezwan fried rice veg with a fried egg and pair it with a Chinese gravy. This is a common combination available in Mumbai. Let me know if you want the recipe for Chinese gravy.

Variations of Veg Schezwan Fried rice

Egg Schezwan Fried rice by adding scrambled eggs.

Chicken Schezwan fried rice: Can add boiled chicken pieces or saute chicken pieces in a separate pan or coat chicken pieces with maida (all-purpose flour), cornflour, a pinch of salt, black pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, and deep fry.

Did you try this Schezwan fried rice veg recipe? Please leave a star rating and a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!

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