A simple and elegant fried rice made with just a few ingredients! Shredded dried scallops, fluffy egg whites, and plenty of rice make this Dried Scallop and Egg White Fried Rice a super flavorful dish. Enjoy it plain or pair with vegetables and meat for a complete meal.
We had so many extra egg whites after making Soy Cured Egg Yolks last week. What to do with egg whites? Make fried rice!
I first planned to make an egg white omelet. Or chocolate soufflé. But then we had dinner a local Chinese restaurant and I was reminded of a classic Chinese dish: dried scallop and egg white fried rice!
Visually, this is a subtle dish. But take a bite and you can taste how elegant, bold, and composed all the flavors are. The dried scallops are so umami-rich. The egg white keep it fluffy and light. We season with fish sauce and a little salt to bring it together.
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Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Rice
- Dried scallops
- Egg whites
- Fish sauce
- Salt
- White pepper
- Sesame oil
- Green onions
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's get cooking!
Gently rinse the dried scallops in room temperature water to remove any impurities. Soak the scallops in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes (until the scallops are softened enough to easily shred).
Remove the scallops from the water (save the soaking water for another use, it's super flavorful). Shred the scallops as fine as you can and set aside.
In a large pan over high heat, add some oil and scramble the egg whites until just set. Remove the eggs whites to a plate.
In the same pan, add more oil and half of the shredded scallops. Saute for 2 minutes until the scallops are golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. (We will add this portion of "crispy" shredded scallops to the fried rice at the very end.)
Add more oil to the pan and the other half of the scallops. Turn the heat to medium and add the other half of the scallops.
Saute for 1 minute then add the rice. Mix the rice with the scallops and stir fry everything together for about 5 minutes.
Season with the fish sauce and salt.
Add the scrambled egg whites back in. Stir fry for another 1 minute.
Drizzle in the sesame oil. Add the white pepper and chopped green onions. Give it another stir to mix.
Top with the other half of the scallops (the crispy golden ones!) that we cooked at the beginning in Step 4.
Then the fried rice is ready to eat and enjoy ^_^
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few popular ideas:
- Chinese broccoli - slice the broccoli very thin and add it to the pan after you stir fry the rice (Step 6 in the recipe below). You can also use asparagus if you can't find Chinese broccoli. .
- Ginger - add a tablespoon of minced ginger. Saute it with the scallops in Step 5 of the recipe below.
- Garlic - add a few cloves of minced garlic. Saute it with the scallops in Step 5 of the recipe below.
Enjoy!
Storage
Leftovers keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Store in a sealed container. Reheat in the microwave in 30 second increments. Leftovers make a great breakfast the next day with a fried egg on top ^_^
Top Tip
Make sure to budget enough time to soak and rehydrate the dried scallops. We soak it in hot water which only takes 30 minutes.
However many people believe that the scallops retain more flavor if you soak it in cool water overnight in the refrigerator.
Either way is good! Just go with which you have time for.
If you soak in hot water, the leftover "soaking water" is very flavorful. Use it to make soup! We often mix the soaking water with chicken broth (fresh or canned works), then add bean sprouts and tofu for an easy soup. We serve the soup alongside the fried rice for dinner. So it's like double scallop!
FAQ
We use eggs whites only because they are more delicate and allow the flavor of dried scallops to shine through. Egg yolks are much richer and would take focus away from the dried scallops.
But! If you want to use the whole egg, feel free to do so. It won't be quite the same but it will still be a tasty fried rice dish.
Dried scallops are soft enough to shred by hand after they've been fully rehydrated in water. If the scallops aren't easily shreddable after soaking in water that means you need to soak it for longer.
Dried Scallop & Egg White Fried Rice Recipe
Dried Scallop & Egg White Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 6 cups rice cooked
- 8 dried scallops
- 6 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper ground
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 stalk green onions chopped
Instructions
- Gently rinse the dried scallops in room temperature water to remove any impurities. Soak the scallops in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes (until softened).
- Remove the scallops from the water (save the soaking water for another use, it's super flavorful). Shred the scallops as fine as you can and set aside.
- In a large pan over high heat, add some oil and scramble the egg whites until just set. Remove the eggs whites to a plate.
- In the same pan, add more oil and half of the shredded scallops. Saute for 2 minutes until the scallops are golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. (We will add this portion of "crispy" scallops to the fried rice at the very end.)
- Add more oil to the pan and the other half of the scallops. Turn the heat to medium and add the other half of the scallops.
- Saute for 1 minute then add the rice. Mix the rice with the scallops and stir fry everything together for about 5 minutes.
- Season with the fish sauce and salt.
- Add the scrambled egg whites back in. Stir fry for another 1 minute.
- Drizzle in the sesame oil. Add the white pepper and chopped green onions. Give it another stir to mix.
- Top with the other half of the scallops (the crisp golden ones!) that we cooked in Step 4. The fried rice is now ready to eat and enjoy ^_^
Nutrition
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Mahalo for Reading!