Chicken Pineapple Fried Rice

Ingredients & Substitutes

Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements. 

• Leftover day-old rice: ideally Jasmine rice rice or substitute with any long grain white rice or brown rice. You can also use cold short-grain rice too. If you want fluffy rice, it's always best to use day-old cold rice because the cold air removes excess moisture, which leads to soggy fried rice.
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breast, sliced pork, beef, shrimp or extra-firm tofu.
• Fresh whole pineapple: If you're using fresh, make sure it's a ripe pineapple. The pineapple should be mostly yellow with some green marbling through it. If it's all green, it's not ripe yet. You can also check by smelling the fruit, if it's ripe it will smell sweet versus a non-ripe one.
  • Or substitute with canned pineapple chunks.
  • I don't recommend using frozen pineapple as it's not as sweet.
• Frozen mixed vegetables: such as peas, diced carrots, corn niblets and/or green beans. Or substitute with any vegetable you enjoy such as broccoli florets, edamame, red bell pepper, zucchini or any hard vegetable that doesn't contain a lot of water and dice into small pieces.
• Onion: or substitute shallots or green onions.
• Fresh Garlic: or substitute with the jarred kind or season with garlic powder to taste.
• Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
• Fish sauce: To give this rice dish an umami flavor or substitute with a bit of oyster sauce to taste.
• Black pepper: or substitute with white pepper.
• Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil that has a low smoke point.

Chicken Marinade

• Regular soy sauce
• Cornstarch: to tenderize and velvet the meat to make it juicy and tender. The starch helps to lock in the moisture from the oil and is commonly used in Chinese cooking. Or substitute with potato starch. 
• Sesame oil: to flavor and moisten the chicken. Or substitute with neutral oil if you're allergic to sesame.
• Baking soda: the key ingredient to velvet the meat making it super tender as it raises the acidity preventing protein bonds. Do not skip this! Don't worry you won't taste it as we're using a small amount.       

Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.

Instructions

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make chicken pineapple fried rice:

1. Break up cold day-old rice with a rice paddle or clean hands. Set aside.
2. Slice chicken thighs on a bias and transfer sliced chicken to a medium bowl. Season chicken with marinade ingredients as listed, mix well and set aside to marinate for 10-15 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Fry sliced chicken until cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.
4. Next sauté garlic and onions until fragrant.
5. Add mixed vegetables and diced pineapples and cook for 3-4 minutes, evaporating any liquids in the pan. Push everything to the side of the pan.
6. Add remaining vegetable oil. Toss in cooked rice into the empty space followed by regular soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and black pepper and toss everything together.
7. Toss back in cooked chicken. Serve hot and enjoy!

Storage

• Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
• Freezer friendly? This fried rice can be stored in smaller portions in freezer friendly bags after cooling it completely. It can be frozen up to 3 months or until you see freezer burn. To reheat, defrost it and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan.