When I was growing up, we ate rice a lot (I’m hispanic and so every meal pretty much had rice on the side) and so my mom would get really inventive sometimes with the leftovers. It was basically anything that was leftover mixed with rice. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I used to love rice cooked with scrambled eggs mixed with ketchup. I wanted it all the time. Don’t even get me started with rice mixed with sautéed sliced hot dogs, frozen corn and this hispanic seasoning blend that would turn the rice yellow. I still crave that to this day by the way. She would also make a ground beef stew thing that was basically ground beef in a sauce with frozen mixed veggies and diced potatoes and then the next day she’d mix that with rice. It was SO good. This Carne Asada Fried Rice is sort of an ode to my mother and my childhood. I had leftovers one day from when I made carne asada tacos and so I sort of sautéed it all together in a wok with rice and this dish was born. It might sound like a weird flavor combination, but I promise you it’s going to be your new favorite take-out at home dish. Add a fried egg on top and you win the game. All bets are off.
In a large bowl, combine the meat, olive oil, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Toss with your hands until evenly combined.
**Note: For the steak, I’m using something called flap meat or flap steak—sometimes it’ll just say carne asada on the package, but you can also use skirt steak or flank steak instead!**
**Tip: If you don’t want to worry about buying all of those spices (if you don’t already have them) then you can just swap them all out for a steak seasoning or even taco seasoning blend would be great as well! Sometimes they sell carne asada already seasoned and marinaded and so you can also use that. Options for you.**
Place on a baking sheet and broil on high until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. You can also grill the steak on a stovetop grill pan or outdoor grill if you prefer. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to rest before dicing.
**Note: In all honesty, I was lazy to grill it and I didn’t want to deal with all of that, so I just popped it under the broiler. For a dish like this, it doesn’t really matter. You can also just use leftover steak from the taco night before!**
Place a large wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.
**Note: Since fried rice is using made quickly over high heat, you want to keep babysitting it throughout the entire process. Keep the veggies moving so that the garlic doesn’t burn from the high heat!**
Add the diced steak and give it all a stir. Then push everything to one side of the wok or skillet. Drizzle in the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil and add the beaten eggs.
Cook, stirring often, until the eggs have just cooked through and have set. You don’t want the eggs to brown, so again, keep moving them around until they’re no longer runny but still have a bit of softness to them.
Pushing everything to one side of the skillet or wok, gives the eggs some space and a chance to scramble and cook properly before distributing them to the rest of the dish.
Add the cooked rice, soy sauce and sriracha, stirring until evenly combined and the rice is evenly colored from the sauces.
**Note: Fried rice is always best when made with rice that was cooked the day before. Leftover rice would be perfect, if you have enough. If not, you can just cook the rice the night before, cool it and then store in the fridge until the next day. The morning of would be okay too, if you’re cooking the rice later on in the evening. I like to use Jasmine rice for this dish because the aroma and flavor balances nicely with everything else.**
Stir in the peas, scallions and cilantro. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, adding more soy sauce, sriracha or sesame oil if needed. Cook for about a minute or two longer to warm up the peas.
Remove the pan from the heat and garnish with thinly sliced radish, more chopped cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese. Serve right from the skillet (why dirty another dish) with lime wedges on the side.
I know that the cheese on top might sound a bit odd, but I wanted this to taste like a carne asada taco. Plus cotija cheese has a salty bite to it and so it finishes off the rice perfectly.
**Note: Cotija cheese is a firm salty Mexican cheese that you can find in most grocery stores these days. It’s in the refrigerated section where the salsas are typically. If you can’t find it for some reason, you can just leave it out or use grated parmesan (trust me).**
You can also serve the rice topped with pickled jalapeños if you want an added kick to it, but that’s completely optional. I happened to have some in the fridge so why not?!
If you’re familiar with Peruvian food, this is similar to an arroz chaufa, so it’s not all that weird when you think about it. It’s like Chinese food meets Mexican food and I really can’t get enough. I hope you give it a try and if you do, be sure to let me know what you think below. Stay safe out there, my friends.
Carne Asada Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 pounds flap meat or flank steak
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt and coarse black pepper
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 scallions thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, plus more for topping
- 3 to 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the meat, olive oil, spices and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Toss with your hands until evenly combined. Place on a baking sheet and broil on high until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. You can also grill the steak on a stovetop grill pan or outdoor grill if you prefer. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to rest before dicing.
- Place a large wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the diced steak and give it a stir. Push everything to one side of the wok or skillet. Drizzle in the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil and add the eggs. Cook, stirring often, until the eggs have just cooked through and have set. Add the rice, soy sauce and sriracha, stirring until evenly combined. Stir in the peas, scallions and cilantro. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, adding more soy sauce, sriracha or sesame oil if needed. Cook for about a minute or two longer to warm up the peas. Remove from the heat and garnish with radish, more cilantro and cotija cheese. Serve with lime wedges and enjoy!
Delicious. Came together super quickly.
Ah man! You are tugging on my heart strings. My mom used to do the same thing with leftovers. I would stir fry rice with whatever was left over and it was the best next day meal.
Cheers and thanks for the memories.