Fried rice (炒饭, chǎo fàn) is cooked rice stir-fried in a very hot wok with egg and small diced extras. In China the classic versions are pale gold, seasoned with salt rather than soy sauce, never spicy and without bones.
Fried rice is what Chinese kitchens do with rice that was cooked the day before: break it up, toss it in a smoking-hot wok with egg, add a few small diced extras, season with salt, finish with spring onion. Every grain stays separate. It is one of the cheapest and safest things to order in China – on the menu of almost every place that serves rice, from a noodle shop to hotel room service.
Two things surprise visitors. It is usually pale gold, not brown: the default versions use no soy sauce. And in a restaurant meal it counts as the staple (主食, zhǔ shí), like a bowl of plain rice – so it tends to arrive at the end, after the other dishes.
What it tastes like. Every grain separate, a little chewy and glossy with oil, with soft scraps of egg running through it. Plain egg fried rice tastes of egg, salt and spring onion and not much else – it is meant to go with other dishes. Yangzhou fried rice adds the sweet pop of peas and corn and small salty cubes of ham. A plate is a full meal for one.
A bit like… The rice version of fried leftover potatoes: everyday food made from yesterday’s staple, made good by a very hot pan.
Tap the numbers on two plates of fried rice we ate in China: the pale Yangzhou kind you get almost everywhere, and the brown, Cantonese soy sauce kind that looks like takeout at home.
1Scraps of egg
鸡蛋 jī dàn
Scrambled in the wok first and broken into soft scraps – that is the yellow all through the rice. Egg is in every fried rice on this page (allergen C).
Tap a number on the photo, or a name in the list.
Egg fried rice (蛋炒饭) is the base: rice, egg, spring onion, salt. Yangzhou fried rice (扬州炒饭) is egg fried rice with small diced extras – on most menus ham, green peas and corn or carrot, often shrimp. Neither has soy sauce, which is why both are pale.
The name comes from Yangzhou, an old city on the Grand Canal in Jiangsu province. Yangzhou has published an official recipe – with shrimp, ham, chicken, sea cucumber, dried scallop, mushroom, bamboo shoot and peas, and no soy sauce. Ordinary restaurants elsewhere keep the name and simplify the extras.
Pick a style and watch the plate change. The last button is the brown takeout fried rice you may know from home.
蛋炒饭
dàn chǎo fàn
Rice, egg, spring onion, salt – nothing else. It is the base every other fried rice is built on, and what Chinese families make from yesterday’s rice.
| 蛋炒饭Egg fried rice | 扬州炒饭Yangzhou fried rice | 腊味炒饭Soy sauce fried rice with cured meat | 排骨炒饭Fried rice with braised ribs on top | Chinese takeout fried rice in the US or Europe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In it | Rice, egg, spring onion | Rice, egg, diced ham, green peas, sweet corn (often), shrimp (often), spring onion | Rice, egg, Chinese sausage, chicken (often), lettuce (often), spring onion | Rice, egg, green peas, carrot, chilli flakes (often), braised ribs | Rice, egg, green peas, carrot, onion, bean sprouts (often), spring onion |
| Colour | Pale gold | Pale gold | Brown | Pale gold | Brown |
| Seasoning | Salt. No soy sauce. | Salt. No soy sauce. | Soy sauce – which is why it is brown. | Salt, sometimes chilli; the ribs bring their own soy-braised sauce. | Soy sauce, often a dark sauce for colour. |
| Allergens | C | C · sometimes B | A, C, F | A, C, F | A, C, F |
| Where | Almost every menu that has rice on it, usually the cheapest fried rice. | Ordinary restaurants all over China, and the “special fried rice” of British takeaways. | Cantonese and Hong Kong-style restaurants. Plain soy sauce fried rice (酱油炒饭) is a Shanghai favourite too. | Fast-food and lunch places: a whole meal on one plate. | Not in China – for comparison. |
腊味炒饭là wèi chǎo fàn
Soy sauce fried rice with Chinese sausage
Cantonese-style fried rice browned with soy sauce, with sweet-salty cured sausage and bacon (腊味), chicken, egg and shredded lettuce – the one that looks most like takeout fried rice abroad.
¥25–45 · typical in a big city (2026) · allergens A cereals containing gluten, C eggs, F soybeans
红烧排骨炒饭hóng shāo pái gǔ chǎo fàn
Fried rice topped with braised pork ribs
Egg fried rice with soy-braised pork ribs piled on top – a whole lunch on one plate. Ours had chilli flakes in the rice, so it was mildly spicy.
¥30–45 · typical in a big city (2026) · allergens A cereals containing gluten, C eggs, F soybeans
石锅炒饭shí guō chǎo fàn
Stone-pot fried rice with egg white and zucchini
Fried rice served in a hot stone pot that keeps it sizzling: egg white, diced courgette and what looked like threads of dried scallop.
¥20–40 · typical in a big city (2026) · allergens C eggs, R molluscs
Photos of the ribs and the stone pot are in the quiz below; the cured meat one is under Read the plate.
Six things to know, from finding it on the menu to the chilli sauce.
Noodle and fast-food shops, Cantonese restaurants, hotel room service, delivery apps – almost anywhere that serves rice. Look for 炒饭 at the end of a name.
The fried rice menu ↑A plate (份, fèn) is a full meal for one. In a group, one or two plates for the table are enough next to the other dishes.
In a full meal, rice and noodles – the staple, 主食 – usually arrive at the end. If you want your fried rice with the dishes, say 主食先上.
A shared plate comes with a serving spoon. Everyone scoops some into their own small bowl.
In fast-food places you order and pay first, at the counter or by QR code. In restaurants you pay at the end.
Canteen walkthroughFried rice comes seasoned and mild. Many places have chilli sauce or chilli oil on the table, or bring it if you ask.
Ordering by QR code instead? It works like our QR-code ordering walkthrough. For everything else, tap a card to show it full-screen.
一份扬州炒饭
yí fèn yáng zhōu chǎo fàn
One Yangzhou fried rice, please
一份蛋炒饭
yí fèn dàn chǎo fàn
One egg fried rice, please
主食先上
zhǔ shí xiān shàng
Please bring the rice now, with the dishes
给我们几个小碗
gěi wǒ men jǐ gè xiǎo wǎn
Some small bowls for us, please
不要葱
bú yào cōng
No spring onion, please
少油
shǎo yóu
Less oil, please
有辣椒酱吗？
yǒu là jiāo jiàng ma?
Do you have chilli sauce?
打包
dǎ bāo
To take away, please
Not a recipe – six steps that explain why restaurant fried rice is fluffy, dry and a little smoky, and why the rice has to be yesterday’s. Step through it, or press play.
1 / 6隔夜饭gé yè fàn
Start with yesterday’s rice
Cooked rice that has sat in the fridge overnight has dried out a little and firmed up. Freshly cooked rice is wet and sticky and turns to mush in the wok. The clumps are broken up by hand first.
Plenty of rice dishes look like fried rice on the plate. Eight from our photos – two of them are fried rice. Which?
1Fried rice · 炒饭 fried rice
红烧排骨炒饭hóng shāo pái gǔ chǎo fàn
Fried rice with braised ribs
The ribs on top make it look like rice with a topping – but look at the rice: separate grains, scraps of egg, flecks of chilli. It went through the wok first.
Shanghai, 2021
2Not fried rice · 拌饭 mixed rice
石锅拌饭shí guō bàn fàn
Korean stone-pot bibimbap
Plain white rice under vegetables and a fried egg, in a hot stone bowl. You mix it (拌) yourself at the table with chilli paste. Nobody fries it.
Shanghai, 2021
3Not fried rice · 抓饭 pilaf
羊肉抓饭yáng ròu zhuā fàn
Xinjiang lamb pilaf
Yellow grains, carrot and raisins – it looks fried. But Xinjiang pilaf is cooked in one pot: raw rice steamed in lamb fat and stock on top of the meat and carrots. This restaurant shaped it into a heart.
Shanghai, 2021
4Fried rice · 炒饭 fried rice
石锅炒饭shí guō chǎo fàn
Stone-pot fried rice
The same kind of stone pot as the bibimbap – but this rice was fried first, with egg white and courgette, then served in the hot pot so it keeps sizzling.
2014
5Not fried rice · 煲仔饭 clay-pot rice
腊味煲仔饭là wèi bāo zǎi fàn
Clay-pot rice with Chinese sausage
The same sausage as cured meat fried rice, but the rice was cooked raw in the clay pot with the toppings on it. Pour the sweet soy sauce over, mix, and scrape up the crust at the bottom.
Shanghai, 2020
6Not fried rice · 盖饭 rice with a topping
鱼香肉丝盖饭yú xiāng ròu sī gài fàn
Yuxiang pork over rice
Plain steamed rice with a stir-fry spooned over it: 盖饭, “covered rice”. The other quick lunch on every menu that has fried rice.
2024
7Not fried rice · 焗饭 baked rice
芝士焗大虾饭zhī shì jú dà xiā fàn
Baked rice with prawns and cheese
Rice under prawns, tomato and melted cheese, baked in the oven – a Hong Kong café favourite. The rice underneath is often fried first, but the menu calls it 焗饭.
Shanghai, 2021
8Not fried rice · 锅巴 rice crust
三鲜锅巴sān xiān guō bā
Crispy rice crust with seafood sauce
Rice, and fried – but not fried rice. 锅巴 is the crust of rice from the bottom of the pot, deep-fried until it puffs up, with a sauce of shrimp, squid and wood ear poured over.
2025
The last character tells you what kind of rice dish it is; the characters in front say what is on or in it.
| On the menu | In English | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 米饭mǐ fàn | Steamed rice | A bowl of plain rice, ordered on the side. Also 白饭. |
| 炒饭chǎo fàn | Fried rice | Cooked rice stir-fried in the wok with egg and extras. |
| 盖饭gài fàn | Rice with a topping | Plain rice with a dish spooned over it. Also 盖浇饭. |
| 盖炒饭gài chǎo fàn | Fried rice with a topping | The same, on fried rice instead of plain. |
| 煲仔饭bāo zǎi fàn | Clay-pot rice | Raw rice cooked in a clay pot with the toppings on it, crust at the bottom. Cantonese. |
| 拌饭bàn fàn | Mixed rice bowl | Rice with toppings you mix yourself – Korean bibimbap and its relatives. |
| 抓饭zhuā fàn | Pilaf | Rice cooked in one pot with lamb, carrot and fat. Xinjiang and Uyghur restaurants. |
| 焗饭jú fàn | Baked rice | Rice under sauce and cheese, baked. Hong Kong cafés. |
| 泡饭pào fàn | Rice in broth | Cooked rice in hot water or soup – a Shanghai breakfast, or with seafood in a restaurant. |
| 锅巴guō bā | Rice crust | The crisp crust from the bottom of the pot, fried, often with a sauce poured over. |
Almost every fried rice contains egg. Anything brown has soy sauce, and with it wheat and soy. The extras add their own: shrimp in many Yangzhou and seafood versions, salted fish in the Cantonese one, dried scallop and squid in seafood fried rice. The menu cards mark each one.
Egg and Yangzhou fried rice
Rice, egg, oil and salt. Ham, peas and corn add no EU allergen; shrimp often does.
Brown, soy sauce fried rice
Soy sauce is brewed from soybeans and wheat.
Depends on the extras
Shrimp, salted fish, squid and dried scallop (瑶柱). Kimchi is often made with fish sauce or shrimp paste.
On the side
Chilli sauce and soy sauce; some chilli oils contain sesame.
These are estimates from how the dish is usually made, not a restaurant’s declaration. Every kitchen and every sauce brand is different – always tell the staff about an allergy. Chinese kitchens often fry in peanut oil, and chilli oil may be made with it too; we don’t repeat that for each dish.
Egg fried rice (蛋炒饭) and vegetable fried rice (素炒饭) look vegetarian, but many kitchens fry in lard (猪油) and season with chicken powder (鸡精), and Yangzhou fried rice has ham. Say you are vegetarian and ask for no lard and no chicken powder. Vegans also need to ask for no egg – not every kitchen will do it. If you don’t eat pork, beef, chicken and shrimp fried rice are the usual choices; a Muslim (清真, qīng zhēn) restaurant serves no pork at all.
我吃素
wǒ chī sù
I’m vegetarian
不要火腿
bú yào huǒ tuǐ
No ham, please
不放猪油
bú fàng zhū yóu
No lard, please
不放鸡精
bú fàng jī jīng
No chicken powder, please
不要鸡蛋
bú yào jī dàn
No egg, please
里面有虾吗？
lǐ miàn yǒu xiā ma?
Is there shrimp in it?
不放酱油
bú fàng jiàng yóu
No soy sauce, please (it contains wheat)
我对鸡蛋过敏
wǒ duì jī dàn guò mǐn
I’m allergic to eggs
Next on the menu: chow mein in China, Chinese dumplings (jiaozi), wontons and wonton soup, Chinese hot pot, and the canteen and fast-food walkthrough for trays, pointing and paying at the till.
Yes. Frying yesterday’s rice with egg is an old habit of Chinese home cooking, and the dish has relatives all over Asia – Indonesian nasi goreng, Thai khao pad – as well as the takeout fried rice in Western countries.
Takeout fried rice abroad is usually coloured with soy sauce, sometimes with an extra dark sauce. In China the default – egg fried rice and Yangzhou fried rice – is seasoned with salt and stays pale gold. Brown, soy sauce fried rice exists too: look for 酱油炒饭, 豉油皇炒饭 or 腊味炒饭 on the menu.
The British takeaway name for fried rice with everything in it – usually egg, ham or char siu pork, shrimp and peas. In China the closest match is 扬州炒饭, Yangzhou fried rice.
It contains egg, so it is not vegan. For vegetarians it often isn’t either: many kitchens fry with lard (猪油) and season with chicken powder (鸡精), and Yangzhou fried rice has ham. Say 我吃素 and add 不放猪油, 不放鸡精 – the cards in the diet section show the words.
Rice and egg are, and plain egg or Yangzhou fried rice is usually seasoned with salt only. Anything brown has soy sauce, which is brewed with wheat. Ask for 不放酱油 (no soy sauce), and remember the wok has just cooked other dishes.
Not usually. The exceptions are kimchi fried rice, Sichuan- or Hunan-style versions and some fried rice with a spicy topping. Chilli sauce is on the side if you want it.
At hotel breakfast buffets, often – a tray of fried rice or fried noodles sits next to the congee. Elsewhere it is lunch and dinner food.
All photos are our own, from our dish library: restaurants in Shanghai in 2020 and 2021, and meals in 2014, 2021, 2024 and 2025. Prices come from the same library and are typical for an ordinary restaurant in a big city; allergens are estimated from the usual recipe. The fried rice menu, the Yangzhou recipe and the steps in the wok are general knowledge – kitchens differ.
