I wrote a page about fried rice a long time ago. Since then I’ve had an obvious realization that I will share with you now.
I can’t for the life of me understand why fried rice has not been at the center of a larger food truck/fusion cuisine/multi-cultural/mashup food scene. There are ramen sandwich trucks, bbq trucks, fancy mac and cheese trucks, bad lobster roll trucks (they have to be bad, don’t @ me), Japanese style hot dog trucks and any number of other cross-cultural experiments and street food remixes and yet the humble plate of fried rice is still relegated to its American Chinese Takeout ghetto. I do not understand why. The menu writes itself:
BLT Fried Rice: thick bacon bits, rice, stir fried iceberg, cherry tomatoes, crispy bread crumbs on top, kewpie mayo drizzle.
Hot Dog Fried Rice: a Chinese American classic. Just make fried rice with hots dogs in it.
Chili Dog Fried Rice: just what it says. Hot dog fried rice with chili on top. Maybe top it with fritos.
Currywurst Fried Rice: same idea. But with currywurst.
Kielbasa Fried Rice: Polish sausage and sauerkraut.
Spicy Chicken Fried Rice: fried rice with Nashville Hot Chicken
Kim Chi and pressed Tofu Fried Rice: because vegetarians should not be bored.
Double Egg Fried Rice: any of the above, finished by mixing egg white into the rice for that shiny richness, and then topped with a slow cooked soft egg for that extra egginess.
Smoked Short Rib Fried Rice, Pulled Pork Fried Rice, Burnt Ends Fried Rice.
“Roman” Fried Rice with potatoes, thyme, a ton of black pepper, and Romano cheese.
Oh. That crazy Japanese omurice, which is fried rice topped with an omelet. You can spin 50,000 more things off of this idea.
The list is infinite. I can do breakfast fried rice, lunch fried rice, fried rice for a fancy dinner, fried rice to replace poutine after a night of binge drinking.
And, if you want something wetter, I can do all that the same shit with congee.
Why hasn’t this been done?