Pork Chao Fan

Chao Fan is the Chinese-style fried rice I make with ground pork, egg, and hoisin sauce. I use cold leftover rice because it stays loose once it hits the wok. If you want something simpler, my fried rice recipe uses soy sauce and fewer ingredients.

I first learned to make chao fan from a Chinese cooking show I watched in the early nineties. This was before Chowking started serving it, and I had already been cooking my own version at home by then. I still make it close to what I remember from that show, especially the ground pork, hoisin sauce, and the egg that gets cooked first and returned at the end.

Most of the time I make this when I have rice left from the night before. Four cups of cold rice with 6 ounces of ground pork makes a good batch without making the rice too heavy.

What is Chao Fan?

Chao fan simply means fried rice, and there is no single set of ingredients that has to go into it. Cooked rice is stir-fried over fairly high heat with egg, vegetables, meat, or whatever the cook is using. Cold rice works especially well because the grains are drier and easier to separate in the wok.

In the Philippines, chao fan is especially familiar from Chinese-style fast food restaurants, where it is usually served with pieces of meat, egg, and vegetables mixed into the rice. You might eat it with fried siomai, fried chicken, or something else on the side.

The version I make uses ground pork, carrot, green peas, egg, and green onions. I season the pork with hoisin sauce and soy sauce before adding the rice. The hoisin gives it a slightly sweeter taste than versions made with oyster sauce, and it is the flavor I have kept in my recipe through the years.

Why This Chao Fan Recipe Works

• Cold leftover rice – Cold rice is drier, so it is easier to separate and does not turn soft as quickly in the wok.
• The pork is seasoned before you add the rice – The hoisin, soy sauce, and sesame oil go onto browned pork while it is alone in the wok, so the seasoning lands on the meat.
• The egg is cooked separately and returned at the end – It stays in soft pieces you can see instead of coating every grain.
• The carrot is chopped small – Chop it about the size of the peas so it has enough time to soften in the wok.

Chao Fan Ingredients

• Ground pork – Six ounces for four cups of rice. Use regular ground pork rather than the leanest pack, since a little fat helps the rice.
• Cold leftover rice – Rice cooked the night before and kept in the refrigerator. Break the block apart in a bowl before you turn on the stove.
• Hoisin sauce – Two tablespoons. Sold in jars and squeeze bottles at Asian groceries and in the international aisle of most supermarkets.
• Soy sauce – One tablespoon, and that is all it needs since the hoisin is already salty.
• Sesame oil – A teaspoon, added with the sauces to season the pork.
• Carrot – Diced. It goes into the wok with the rice, not before it.
• Green peas – Frozen peas straight from the bag.
• Onion – Minced. It goes in ahead of the pork and softens into the rice.
• Green onions – Chopped, and they go in near the end with the peas.
• Eggs – Beat them before you start. Once the wok is hot there is no time to stop and whisk.
• Salt and ground white pepper – Add these at the end, to taste. I use white pepper so there are no dark specks through the rice.
• Cooking oil – Five tablespoons, divided. Two go to the egg and three to everything after it, so measure it out before you start.

Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark sauce made from fermented soybeans with sugar, garlic, and spices in it. It is sweeter and thicker than oyster sauce, which is why two tablespoons season the pork without loosening it. Keep the jar in the refrigerator once it is open.

Everything happens in one wok, and the egg is the only thing that comes out and goes back in.

1. Place the cold leftover rice in a bowl and break apart any clumps with your hands or a fork. Set it aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Pour in the beaten eggs and scramble until just cooked, then remove them from the wok and set aside.

1. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of cooking oil to the wok.
2. Saute the onion until it softens.
3. Add the ground pork. Stir-fry while breaking it apart with your spatula, and keep cooking until the pork is browned and cooked through.
4. Add the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir until the pork is evenly coated.

Ground pork is cooked through at an internal temperature of 160°F. Six ounces browns quickly in a hot wok, so check it before the sauces go in rather than after, when the hoisin has darkened everything.

1. Add the carrot and the cold rice. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry for 2 minutes, tossing while you break apart any remaining clumps so the pork and seasonings spread evenly through the rice.
2. Add the green peas and green onions. Continue stir-frying for 1 minute.

1. Return the cooked egg to the wok. Toss everything together, then season with salt and ground white pepper to taste.
2. Turn off the heat. Transfer the chao fan to a serving plate and serve immediately. Share and enjoy!

What to Serve with Chao Fan

• Pork Siomai – Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings with a soy sauce and calamansi dip. This is the pairing chao fan is best known for.
• Lumpia – Thin fried pork rolls. Three or four of these beside the rice makes it a full plate.
• A fried egg on top – Sunny side up, so the yolk runs into the rice.
• Toyo, calamansi, and chili – Serve these on the side so everyone can add as much as they want.
• Chili Garlic Oil – Thai chilies and two heads of garlic cooked slowly in oil, finished with a spoon of hoisin.

Storage

• Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Transfer the rice to a shallow container and refrigerate it within 2 hours. Use a small pan when reheating a single serving.
• Freezer: Pack it flat in resealable bags for up to 1 month. The peas and carrot go soft after freezing. Hold the green onions back when a batch is headed for the freezer and add fresh ones after reheating.
• Reheating: High heat, a little oil, and keep breaking the clumps with the spatula until the rice is steaming all the way through. Sprinkle a teaspoon of water over it first if the grains have hardened.

More Fried Rice Recipes

• Adobo Rice – Leftover pork adobo chopped small and fried with day-old rice and a whole head of toasted garlic.
• Corned Beef Fried Rice with Egg – Canned corned beef and browned garlic, topped with a sunny side up egg.
• Aligue Fried Rice – Crab fat folded into the rice, with sauteed shrimp, mussels, and squid on top.
• Tocino Fried Rice – Sweet cured pork fried first, then tossed through rice with green peas and carrot.
• Egg Fried Rice – Eggs, onion, bell pepper, and sweet peppers, with no meat in it at all.

• Hoisin sauce – You can use 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce instead. The rice will be less sweet and the flavor will be a little more savory.
• Ground pork – Ground beef, ground chicken, or grilled pork belly chopped small all work in the same six ounce amount. Ground beef and ground chicken both need to reach 160°F and 165°F respectively before the sauces go in.
• Green peas – Corn kernels or a frozen mixed vegetable blend. Keep the pieces the same size as the carrot.
• Ground white pepper – You can use black pepper instead. It tastes a little sharper, and you will see the specks in the rice.
• Cold leftover rice – Day-old jasmine, long grain, or brown rice can all work here. Break apart any clumps before adding it to the wok.
• Sesame oil – Leave it out if you do not have any. The rice is still good, just less fragrant.

What I like about this chao fan is how everything comes together in each spoonful. You get some pork, egg, and vegetables with the rice, while the hoisin adds just enough sweetness to give it its own flavor. Serve it while it is hot and enjoy it as it is, or add your favorite side dish to make the meal more complete.