Singapore Fried Rice (Indo-Chinese Fried Rice)

My Singapore fried rice is a one-skillet dinner that packs in protein, vegetables and a TON of flavor to bring you one delicious meal. Growing up, this Indo-Chinese fried rice was a dinner time staple at my house.

Growing up in an Indian home, we ate a lot of Indian food. As a kid, I was always so excited to eat “something else” and so whenever my mom whipped up this Singapore fried rice, I was giddy. So imagine my shock when I grew up, went to Singapore, and realized that “Singapore fried rice” isn’t actually a thing in Singapore!

It’s actually an “Indo-Chinese” dish, which is a mix of Chinese and Indian styles of cooking (in this case, a stir fried rice with Indian spices and flavors.) The fried rice they ACTUALLY serve in Singapore is Hainese chicken rice.

I went back and forth on whether to call this recipe “Singapore fried rice” or “Indo-Chinese fried rice” and decided to call it both. No matter what you call it, one thing is certain – IT IS DELICIOUS.

Why You’ll Love Singapore Fried Rice

• Easy, one-skillet dinner. This whole dinner comes together in one skillet, using leftover rice. It’s a great way to use up leftover protein and vegetables, and while I list out my favorite proteins and veggies, you can switch it up with whatever you have on hand.
• Cooks quickly. Don’t let the ingredients scare you away. Dice up a few veggies, slice your chicken breast, scramble some egg, and you’re good to go. The recipe comes together lightning fast.
• It’s a macro-friendly meal! Traditional Chinese fried rice isn’t always the healthiest. Typically fried in a LOT of oil, with minimal chunks of chicken and just a few peas and carrots, I wouldn’t consider it a full meal. This Indo Chinese fried rice recipe uses just a tiny amount of oil, because the sauce helps to cook and steam the dish without needing to fry it in a bunch of oil. It’s also packed with vegetables AND lean protein!

Indo Chinese Fried Rice Ingredients

Don’t let the number of ingredients scare you off. This dish comes together quickly and has minimal prep.

Protein

• For our protein, we’ll be using thinly sliced chicken breast, shrimp, and fluffy scrambled eggs. I like to thinly slice my chicken breast because it helps it cook quickly and also makes it easier to eat.
• For the shrimp, you’ll want to make sure you are using fully thawed shrimp. You can quickly thaw frozen shrimp by placing it in a bowl of cool water for a few minutes, if needed.
• And for the eggs, I prefer to very softly scramble my eggs until they are still a bit wetter in texture than I like. We will finish cooking them with the rice and this will help them become soft and fluffy.

Vegetables

This Indo Chinese fried rice is PACKED with veggies. We’ll be using onion (any color will work), bell pepper (any color will work), scallions, and coleslaw mix! Traditionally Singapore rice contains a mix of cabbage and carrots, and I find using a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix saves me the effort of having to hack through a large cabbage.

Rice

My recipe calls for basmati rice, but any long grain white rice will do. You want to make sure that you’re using day-old rice so that the rice has time to cool and dry out a bit. This prevents the Singapore fried rice from getting mushy. In a pinch, you can cook your rice same day, and spread it out flat on a plate, and put in your fridge for a couple hours to quickly cool and dry out the rice.

I do not recommend making this recipe with a short grain or sushi-style rice. It will get too mushy.

Aromatics/Sauce

• Our aromatics include fresh garlic, curry powder and cilantro (feel free to leave out the cilantro if you’re not a fan).
• We also add in a delicious Indo-Chinese sauce made with soy sauce, ketchup and Shaoxing wine. If you don’t have Shaoxing wine, you can substitute with a cooking sherry or chicken broth.
• The sauce really helps pull the dish together, and because this helps steam and separate the rice as you’re stir-frying, you’ll see that we use much less oil than a typical Chinese fried rice!

How to make Singapore Fried Rice

Start by mixing together soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and ketchup to make your sauce. Set aside.

Next we’ll place a 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add in your thinly sliced chicken and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chicken will be MOSTLY cooked through. Next we’ll add shrimp to the same pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I added about 1/4 tsp of each). Cook for another 2 minutes or until shrimp is plump and cooked through.

Remove cooked chicken and shrimp from pan and set aside. Add in your beaten eggs and softly scramble. Set scrambled eggs aside with the chicken and shrimp. I like to cook my eggs a bit wetter than I prefer, because we’ll be cooking it a bit more with the rice later. This helps ensure they stay soft and fluffy instead of overcooking and getting hard.

In the same pan, add in more oil. Once hot, add in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and coleslaw mix. Cook, stirring frequently for 6 minutes.

Next, we’ll add in the cold rice, scallions and curry powder. Stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.

Add in the chicken, shrimp and scrambled egg. Drizzle the sauce over everything and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes and garnish with cilantro if desired.

Singapore fried rice makes a GREAT meal prep. Just portion it into 4 glass containers and reheat before eating.

You don’t have to serve this Indo Chinese Fried Rice with any side dishes – it’s a complete meal-in-one as it’s packed full of protein, veggies, carbs, and even a little fat from the eggs and oil, but if you’d like something on the side, it’d pair well with a cup of miso soup, a cucumber and tomato salad, or a simple green salad.

If you’d like to experiment more with Indian flavors, check out my keema chicken recipe!