Hot Dog Fried Rice
Leftover rice, sliced hot dogs, an egg, soy sauce. Unreasonably good and slightly loud about it.
12 min
Some noise
Stovetop
One thing to wash
Serves 1, hungry
Full disclosure: this is the noisiest recipe on the site — actual frying is involved, and frying sizzles. In exchange you get the best effort-to-reward ratio in late-night cooking: hot dog coins crisped at the edges, rice going golden in the fat, an egg scrambled through, soy sauce hitting the hot pan. If the kitchen door closes, close it.
You’ll need
-
Cooked rice
a bowl, cold from the fridge -
Eggs
1 -
Hot dogs
1–2, sliced into coins No hot dogs? Deli meat, leftover chicken, or skip meat and add extra egg. -
Soy sauce
a good splash -
Butter
a knob to fry in No butter? Any oil. -
Frozen vegetables
optional
a handful near the end -
Onion
optional
a bit, chopped, in with the hot dogs
Salt, pepper, oil, and water are assumed — if the salt is missing too, we can’t help tonight.
The way through
- Slice 1–2 hot dogs into coins. Get a pan over medium heat with a little butter or oil.
- Fry the coins until they're browned and curling at the edges — this is where the flavor lives. 3–4 minutes.
- Add the cold leftover rice, breaking clumps with the spatula. Spread it flat and leave it alone for a minute so it toasts a little before stirring.
- Push everything to one side. Crack the egg into the empty side, scramble it there, then fold it through the rice.
- Splash soy sauce around the edge of the pan (it toasts on contact — that's the fried-rice smell) and stir everything through. Frozen veg can go in a minute before the end.
- Eat from the pan. You've earned the right by doing actual cooking.
Night-kitchen noteCold, dry, day-old rice fries; fresh rice steams into mush. If all you have is fresh, spread it on a plate in the freezer for ten minutes first.