Name: Khao Pad (Fried Rice)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 2 bowls Cooked rice (cold); 150 g Chicken (or shrimp/pork); 2 Eggs; 2 cloves Garlic; 0.5 Onion; 0.5 Tomato; 2 Scallions; 2 tbsp Cooking oil; 1.5 tbsp Fish sauce; 1 tbsp Soy sauce; 0.5 tsp Sugar; 1 to taste White pepper; 0.5 Lime; 1 to serve Cucumber

Ingredients

2servings

Cooked rice (cold) · day-old is best2 bowls
Chicken (or shrimp/pork) · bite-size150 g
Eggs2
Garlic · minced2 cloves
Onion · sliced0.5
Tomato · optional0.5
Scallions · sliced2
Cooking oil2 tbsp
Seasoning
Fish sauce1.5 tbsp
Soy sauce1 tbsp
Sugar0.5 tsp
White pepper1 to taste
To serve
Lime · essential0.5
Cucumber1 to serve

Steps

Stir the seasoning (fish sauce, soy, sugar, pepper) together in a small bowl. Break up the rice ahead of time.
⏲ 1 min
Heat a wok over high heat with oil and cook the garlic and meat.
⏲ 3 min
Push to one side, pour in the beaten eggs and lightly scramble, then add the onion.
⏲ 2 min
Add the cold rice and stir-fry over high heat, pressing and spreading it so it stays fluffy.
⏲ 3 min
Drizzle in the seasoning to coat the rice evenly, then add the tomato and scallions and toss 30 seconds.
⏲ 1 min 30 sec
Plate with lime and cucumber. Squeeze the lime over just before eating (this is key).
⏲ 1 min

Variations

Shrimp (kung): Make it with shrimp for a clean version.
Kraphao-style: Load in basil and chili for a spicy take.
Pineapple fried rice: Add pineapple and cashews for sweetness.
Vegetarian: Tofu and veg, with soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

Tips

Use cold, day-old rice so it fries up fluffy, not mushy.
Stir-fry fast over high heat, pressing and spreading the rice.
Season with fish sauce — it's the salty-umami backbone.
A final squeeze of lime is the identity of Thai fried rice (don't skip).
Prep everything first and cook fast for that wok flavor.

More detail and the reasons why (4)

The lime is not a garnish, and it is not the cook's to add. Acids differ in what survives what happens next (balancing flavour), and citric acid — lime, lemon — does not evaporate but goes dull and faintly bitter when it is boiled. Tom yum answers that by keeping its lime out until the heat is off. A wok is hotter than a soup, so khao pad goes a step further and never puts it in the pan at all: the wedge goes onto the plate, and the acid arrives after everything else, from the eater's hand.
The rest of the seasoning is placed by the same test. Fish sauce is fermented and its savour is heat-stable, so it goes in over the flame where the sugar beside it can catch a little; the tomato and spring onion get thirty seconds because they are there for freshness rather than to be cooked. Read the wok as three arrivals rather than one seasoning step and the order stops looking arbitrary.
Which is what separates it from other fried rices, without the rice technique differing at all. Like kimchi fried rice, egg fried rice and nasi goreng, it fails with freshly cooked rice (cooking rice), and that part is shared. What is not shared is where each one's acid can sit: kimchi's is lactic and outlasts the pan, so it goes in early and cooks down; nasi goreng has none and leans on kecap manis; khao pad's cannot go in at all.
"Press and spread" is what makes the high heat survivable. A wok that hot scorches rice that sits still, and a heap of rice steams itself. Pressing the grains into contact and moving them is how each one gets the metal for a moment instead of one corner of the pan getting it for a minute.

The basics behind this dish

Cooking basics →

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