Vegan Thai basil fried rice, #1 vegan fried rice.
This vegan Thai basil fried rice is happiness in a bowl. The freshness and flavour Thai basil brings to this dish is unmatched. It is unlike any other bowl of fried rice you have tasted!
My family loves Thai basil, for us it was love at first bite. We first tasted it at a Thai restaurant and WE. WERE. HOOKED! I also started cooking with it often. I have lost count of the number of times I have made this fried rice at home.
Vegetarian Thai basil fried rice is very easy to make. It does not need a bajillion sauces, all you need is some good old Thai basil and you are set to rock and roll! It is loaded with more vegetables than rice! So, it counts as healthy too, right?!
If you have had trouble to make non-mushy fried rice with Jasmine rice, read along and learn the tips and tricks to make good fried rice 🙂
Want to make a Thai dessert to complete the meal? Check out Sticky rice with mango, a popular recipe on Plateful of veggies.
What makes this Vegan Thai Basil fried rice special?
- Versatile, use vegetables of your choice.
- Easy to make, Hard to go wrong.
- Does not need many sauces.
- Uses more vegetables than rice.
- Has a wonderful flavour from Thai basil.
Know the ingredients for Vegan Thai basil fried rice.
Rice
The best rice to make vegan Thai basil fried rice is Thai jasmine rice. If you have access to Thai Jasmine rice, I highly recommend using it. Use a good quality Jasmine rice. Look for ‘Thai Hom Mali’ seal from Thai department of foreign trade, on the package. It is a circular logo with golden rice grains, surrounded by the words ‘Thai Hom Mali rice/Originated in Thailand’.
I buy my Thai Hom Mali Jasmine rice from Asian stores, can be found online as well.
Feel free to use any other rice that you may already have in your pantry!
Vegetables
Use any vegetables of your choice like bell peppers/capsicum, carrots, cabbage, any variety of mushrooms. I like to add Enoki mushrooms and mung bean sprouts as they also add a crunchy textural component to the fried rice.
Sauce
I use a mix of soy sauce and dark soy sauce. You can replace dark soy with regular soy sauce and you will be just fine 😊
What is Dark soy sauce?
As the name suggests, dark soy sauce is darker in colour compared to regular soy sauce as it has sugar and molasses added in. Can be found in most stores and online.
Spices
I like to use a mix of black pepper and white pepper. You can use either one of them or use red pepper flakes too! I wasn’t joking when I said this fried rice is versatile! 🙂
Basil
There are many different kinds of basil out there, each one with its own unique flavour but the flavour profiles have similarities too. A few popular ones are Sweet basil which is commonly available, Genovese basil which is hands down THE best basil for pesto, Thai basil which is commonly used in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and Holy basil(Tulsi) which is used for medicinal and religious purposes in India and for cooking in Thailand.
In vegan Thai basil fried rice, Thai basil is the star of the show. If you do not have access to it, substitute it with Italian basil or holy basil(Tulsi). Thai cuisine uses holy basil in a few traditional dishes, so it would be the next best option.
Tofu
I like to use scrambled tofu in fried rice. It is an optional ingredient. Reduce the soy sauce by half tablespoon if not adding tofu.
Preparations needed
vegetables
While making fried rice or any stir-fry in general, it is always a good idea to prep all the required ingredients and keep them close by. Stir frying is the technique where food is cooked on high heat so once you start, things move quick and you will not have the time to chop veggies as you go. If you have everything ready, you can ensure crunchy vegetables.
Rice
Fried rice is best made with cooked rice that has been chilled in the refrigerator or has at-least been brought down to room temperature. I like to cook rice a day ahead and store it in the refrigerator.
Wash Jasmine rice well until water runs clear. This removes excess starch from the surface of the rice and makes it less sticky on cooking.
Also, while cooking rice for fried rice, use a little less water than you otherwise would. For example, if I am cooking Jasmine rice to go with a curry, I add 1.5 cups of water for a cup of rice. For fried rice, I use 1:1 ratio of water to rice. Please note that this ratio applies to Jasmine rice. If using any other rice, the ratio may be different.
Jasmine rice will look sticky after cooking. Compared to other rice, jasmine rice looks more sticky post cooking. Worry not, if you use have used the right ratio of water to rice and have your rice chilled or at room temperature, the clumpy looking rice will easily break up when you add soy sauce.
You can cook rice on a stove top, rice cooker or an instant pot. I usually use a rice cooker.
To cook Jasmine rice in an instant pot, use 1:1 ratio of rice to water and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Release pressure after 10 minutes.
tofu
If using Tofu, crumble it and wrap it in a clean towel to remove excess water.
Take half teaspoon oil in a nonstick pan or wok and saute the tofu on medium heat till excess water evaporates. The tofu will turn lightly brown.
I do this extra step to ensure that tofu does not disintegrate but retains it’s scrambled shape in the fried rice.
Vegan Thai basil fried rice, #1 vegan fried rice
Equipment
- I use standard measuring cups to measure all the ingredients in my recipes.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup Jasmine rice uncooked, makes about 2 cups of cooked rice.
- ½ pack Tofu about 250 grams
- ¾-1 cup Capsicum/bell peppers
- 1 cup Blanched mung bean sprouts About 2 cups un-blanched
- 1 cup enoki mushrooms
- 1 cup Thai basil or use any other basil, loosely packed
- ½ cup Onions
- 5-6 Garlic cloves
- 1 Thai green chilli optional adjust to suit your taste
- ¼ tsp White pepper
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 1½ tbsp Soy sauce
- ½ tbsp Dark soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1½ tbsp Oil
Instructions
Prepare rice, ideally one day ahead
- Wash rice a few times till water runs clear. Washing until water runs clear removes excess starch from the surface of the rice, thereby making it less sticky.
- Cook the rice. I do it in a rice cooker, any method of your choice can be used. Note: For fried rice, it is best to plan ahead and make your rice well ahead of time. The rice should have cooled down. You can make it a day ahead and keep it refrigerated. This ensures separate grains of rice in fried rice.
- If using jasmine rice, rice to water ratio is 1:1 to make fried rice. This ensures perfect grains of rice in your fried rice.
Prep mung bean sprouts
- If using bean sprouts, wash them well and blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to get rid of any bad bacteria. You can transfer them into cold water to stop further cooking.
Prep tofu
- Squeeze tofu and break tofu into small pieces.
- Transfer tofu to a clean towel to drain excess water
- In a non stick pan, in a few drops of oil, saute tofu on medium heat until it is slightly browned and excess water is evaporated.
Stir fry on high heat
- Heat a wok or a pan on high heat. Add oil. (I like to add oil with a high smoke point when cooking on high heat)
- Add in the onions, garlic and Thai green chillies. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add bell peppers and any other vegetables that you may be using.
- When bell peppers are half cooked, add the mushrooms.
- Add salt, white and black pepper powders.
- Add the rice and break it up.
- Add bean sprouts, scrambled tofu.
- Add soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
- Mix everything well. You will see that after adding the sauce, the rice grains break up and become separate.
- Check for seasonings and adjust it to your preference.
- Add the Thai basil leaves.
- Mix and stir fry till the sauces are absorbed.
Video
Notes
- Have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go. Fried rice is best done on high heat from start to end. So have all the ingredients ready and close to you.
- If not using Tofu, or if you are using lesser vegetables than mentioned in the recipe, remember to reduce the quantity of soy sauce accordingly.
- Jasmine rice will look sticky after cooking. Worry not, if you have used the right ratio of water to rice, the clumpy looking rice will easily break up when you add soy sauce.
- For fried rice, it is best to plan ahead and make your rice well ahead of time. The rice should have cooled down. You can make it a day ahead and keep it refrigerated. This ensures separate grains of rice in fried rice.
- Please check sections ‘Ingredients’ and ‘Preparation’ in the write-up for more information.
- If adding purple cabbage, I like to add it in the end with Thai basil to retain its crunch and colour.
- You can also add Thai basil in the very end, just before turning off the heat.
Did you try this recipe?
Do leave a star rating and comment below to let me know how you liked it! I would love to see the photos too! Tag me on social media!
Thank you so much for stopping by! It really means a lot to me!
Thail basil fried rice is love❤️ Will be making this quite often from now on. Thanks a ton for this recipe Shwetha😊
The recipe sounds great. Will try soon 🙂
Awesome! Glad you liked it!