Cauliflower Fried Rice

I can’t say enough good things about rice. It is cheap, filling, and can be made a million different ways. My fiancé absolutely loves rice and would eat it every day if I let him. I, however, would weigh a million pounds if I ate as much rice as he wanted me to cook. In fact, I find myself needing to limit my carbs in general and have found that cauliflower is the perfect substitution for just about any carb dish that I want to make.

That is what brought me to this recipe here. I have always heard of cauliflower fried rice, and this is my attempt. I pretty much used my knowledge of Chinese/Asian cooking to decide which spices and sauces to use. This is a vegetarian recipe that can easily be made vegan by omitting the chicken powder and egg. The chicken seasoning powder is an ingredient that I learned from my fiancé’s family. While familiar with chicken bouillon, I hadn’t known about this chicken powder that is popular in many Asian dishes. I highly recommend this recipe if you are looking to cut down on carbs without sacrificing flavor. This will make a great meal when paired with my oven fried chicken wings.

Yield: 3 servings

Total time: 10 mins

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, grated
½ onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, diced
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
2 tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Kosher salt to taste
1-2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp chicken seasoning powder (optional)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a nonstick pan (or wok, if you have one) heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Sauté vegetables (onion and carrot) until they begin to soften. Add in garlic and sauté for additional 1-2 minutes.
2. Add in grated cauliflower and seasonings (ground ginger, white pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and chicken seasoning if you’re using it) and stir to distribute seasonings evenly. Begin letting the cauliflower cook.
3. Add in sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, and soy sauce and stir. Stir the cauliflower occasionally while it fries, so that it can get color but not stick to the pan. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes.
4. Form a ring on the outer edges of pan with the cauliflower, leaving the center exposed. Pour beaten eggs into exposed center and begin to scramble the eggs. Once the eggs are halfway scrambled, stir all the contents of the pan together, being sure to try evenly distributing the egg as it finishes scrambling.
5. When the egg is done and everything is evenly distributed, remove the rice from the heat and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips

• Some additional veggies to add to this dish: peas, bean sprouts, water chestnuts.
• Substitute regular white onion for a whole green onion (green bits included) for some additional color in your rice.
• Chicken seasoning powder is basically an Asian chicken bouillon. It is commonly sold at Asian markets and can be omitted if you do not have access to it. 
• If you do not want to grate your own cauliflower, they do sell frozen cauliflower that is already riced. You can use that in this recipe. You will need to thaw the cauliflower, and make sure it is strained and dried of moisture. 
• You can substitute black pepper for white pepper if you do not have it. However, I do not recommend using both. Cauliflower is very delicate and mild in flavor; when I tried this recipe using both it was uncomfortably peppery.