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Healthy Vegan Black Rice Veggie Stir-Fry - Whole Foods, Plant-Based Dinner Recipe from Plants-Rule — Healthy Vegan Black Rice Veggie Stir-Fry – Whole Foods, Plant-Based Dinner Recipe from Plants-Rule

This healthy vegan stir-fry uses black forbidden rice for the perfect texture. Full of colorful veggies, this makes a delicious plant-based meal!

If you like this, you’ll love Quick Chinese Eggplant Stir-Fry, Super Veggie Oil-Free Fried Rice, Simplest Plant-Based Oil-Free Cauliflower Fried Rice, and 10 Minute Asian Shiitake Power Bowl.

What is Traditional Fried Rice?

While most Chinese households prefer plain rice, fried rice likely started as a way to use leftover rice. Rather than throw out uneaten rice, it was often used for the next day’s meals. It would be combined with fat, vegetables, and meat scraps to be stretched into a meal to feed a family.

There are few rules about traditional fried rice. The rice, of course, is the starting point. Beyond that, the options are limitless for the different proteins, vegetables, and flavors that can be added. A typical recipe will often include onion, garlic, carrot, ginger, and some sort of chili for heat. The dish is often finished with soy sauce or tamari to add salty, umami flavor.

What is Black “Forbidden” Rice?

Black rice earned its “forbidden” tag from the Chinese emperors who prized it. It was saved just for the upper class, revered for its nutritional benefits, and, thus, tagged “forbidden”. Those nutritional benefits are still present today. Black rice has more iron, fiber, and protein than brown rice (and way more than white rice). Unlike the Chinese, though, you can find black forbidden rice in most health foods stores or online.

What’s the Secret to Making the Best Fried Rice?

There are a few simple tips that will help you make the best fried rice.

Use Cooked, Cold Rice: You need to use pre-cooked rice for fried rice. If making it from scratch, you should precook the rice and let it cool overnight in the fridge (or 1 hour in the freezer). Or, use frozen brown rice – like in this recipe!
Use Medium or Long-Grain Rice: Medium and long grain rice tend to hold up best for fried rice. Short grain rice and sushi rice are too sticky and starchy. Just remember: Short, sticky, starchy. Long is best.
Use a Big, Wide Pan: This will help you keep the ingredients moving around and cook quickly. You want to saute the vegetables and rice, keeping some crunchy texture. If you use too small of a pan, it might be overcrowded and your vegetables will steam…making them soggy.
Preheat Your Pan: While you are chopping your onion, carrot, and other ingredients, preheat your pan over medium-high heat. This will ensure quick cooking and crunchy texture. If the pan is cold, you will likely end up with soggy rice.
Remember the Aromatics: The aromatics that add flavor to Chinese fried rice are: onion, carrot, ginger, garlic, and red chili. You can adjust the quantities to fit your tastes, but using these will ensure authentic flavor.
Stir Often: Remember that a stir-fry is just that… a STIR fry. That means you want to stir often, keeping the ingredients moving around the pan. This ensures even cooking and prevents burning.
Go Easy on the Sauce: Just a couple tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari is enough flavor to finish fried rice. You don’t want to drown your rice in bottled sauce or red chili sauce; you want the flavors of the sauteed vegetables and rice to shine.

Chef Katie’s Plant-Based Cooking Tips:

Veg it Up! This is a great basic recipe to veg up! You can add lots of colorful, healthy veggies to this stir-fry. Mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, spinach, and frozen peas all make delicious additions.

Clean Out the Fridge: Use any of your favorite veggies in this stir-fry. Bell peppers, spinach, onion, and pea pods are all great mix-in. This is a perfect end-of-week meal to clean out your fridge.

Black Rice Substitutions: If you don’t have black rice, substitute with a short grain brown rice. Some grocery stores now even have frozen brown rice…already cooked!

Cooking for Kids: The ginger in this recipe add a spicy kick. Kids can be sensitive to spice. So, if cooking this for kids, omit or reduce the amount of ginger.

Gluten-Free: Tamari is naturally gluten-free. However, if this is not a concern, you can use regular soy sauce.

Soy-Free Tips: Tamari is a gluten-free version of soy sauce. If you need to avoid soy, you can use coconut aminos.

Oil-Free Mission: I’m on a mission to get rid of empty calories, and oil is the most calorie-dense food. In this recipe, I simply omit the oil. You get plenty of flavor from all of the other ingredients. You simply don’t need it.

Watch this Video to See how it’s Done: