Aromatic and buttery, this easy Japanese Garlic Fried Rice recipe topped with garlic chips is a weeknight winner! It is simple yet indulgent. Pair it with succulent grilled shrimp skewers, baked chicken, or teriyaki tofu for a wholesome meal. Ready in 15 minutes!
Japanese Garlic Fried Rice, or what we call Garlic Rice (ガーリックライス) in Japan, reminds me of my college days when I used to cook it over and over. It was quick and easy and super flavorful. And really, there’s nothing better than a hot plate of garlicky fried rice!
With a simple salad and a protein on the side, it was a nice home-cooked meal that kept me going on those long study nights. Now, many years later, I’m still cooking this Japanese Garlic Fried Rice for my family and they love it just as much as I do.
Table of contents
What Makes This Garlic Fried Rice Extra Special
- The addition of crunchy garlic chips results in more aroma and texture to the fried rice. It’s worth the extra step!
- We specifically use Japanese short grain rice in this recipe as it is distinctively Japanese. Japanese short grain rice has a slightly sticky texture than long grain rice such as Jasmine rice or basmati rice. You can expect some toothsome yet chewy mouthfeel.
- The beauty of this garlic fried rice lies on simplicity, which is why I don’t add other veggies such as peas, onion, carrots, etc. To make it a complete meal, serve it with a side of salad, a simple sautéed green, and your choice of protein.
How to Make Japanese Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Japanese short-grain rice – Frozen day-old rice is great as this will speed things up. Pop the frozen rice in the microwave until just warm before frying. If not, you will need to make some fresh rice at least an hour early. Spread your cooked rice on a baking sheet to cool for 60 minutes to remove excess moisture. You want to make sure the rice is still warm so it is easier to cook.
- Garlic – Japanese recipes don’t usually use a lot of garlic compared to other cuisines. One to two cloves of garlic is considered a “good” amount. Keep that in mind when you make this fried rice. It might not be “garlicky” enough to your taste, so feel free to use more to your liking. Just make sure it doesn’t overpower the side dish you plan to enjoy it with.
- Olive oil and butter – I use a mix of olive oil and butter for richness. Omit butter or use vegan butter if needed.
- Soy sauce – A splash of soy sauce is all you need! We are NOT using the soy sauce to season the entire dish, but to bring umami and char taste.
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley (or substitute with chopped green onion)
- Your choice of side dish to serve with the fried rice.
Overview: Cooking Steps
- Make sure all your ingredients are ready to go. Fried rice cooks fast and having everything prepped makes it a lot easier.
- Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat and gently fry the thinly sliced garlic pieces until golden brown. Transfer to a dish lined with paper towel and keep the garlic infused oil in the pan.
- Add the minced garlic in the same pan and stir fry until golden brown and fragrant.
- Add in butter and swirl around to coat the pan, followed by the warmed steamed rice. Break the chunk of rice to separate. Once the garlic oil is coated with the rice, add the soy sauce and toss the fried rice.
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust accordingly.
- Lastly, add the chopped parsley and mix all together.
- To serve, place the garlic fried rice in a rice bowl, pressing gently to make sure there is no space in the bowl, and invert the rice on a serving plate.
I paired this garlic fried rice with grilled shrimp (included in the Recipe Card below), but you can also top it with fried eggs, grilled tofu, or baked chicken.
What to Serve with Japanese Garlic Fried Rice
Garlic fried rice is really delicious on its own, but we often serve it with yoshoku, a Japanese-style western meal. That said, you can serve it with anything that goes well with fried rice. Here are some recipes that I sometimes serve garlic rice with:
- Hambagu (Japanese Hamburger Steak)
- Loco Moco
- Sous Vide Japanese-style Steak
- Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing
- Spicy Bean Sprout Salad
- Simple Salad with Sesame Dressing
Wine Pairing with Japanese Fried Garlic Rice
We previously paired FEL’s pinot noir with waygu beef, and it was really delicious so we were excited to try their 2015 FEL Chardonnay Anderson Valley. The Chardonnay didn’t disappoint and paired perfectly with the garlic fried rice and grilled shrimp.
As you smell the wine, it is refreshing, pure, with a hint of sweetness. You can already dream of how delicate the wine will taste. The first sip feels like sipping peach juice on a warm sunny day, with flavors of melons and pear fruits. The mouthfeel is light, like drinking spring water and we love how it’s not syrupy and overly sweet. Finally, it finishes with a hint of citrus with no lingering aftertaste.
If you are looking for a bottle of white to pair with seafood, or to enjoy on a warm sunny day with friends, give this bottle a try.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Japanese Garlic Fried Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice (cooled or day old; frozen cooked rice works well)
- 2–3 cloves garlic (divided)
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or more, to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3 stalks parsley
For the Grilled Shrimp Skewers (optional; makes 2)
- 6 pieces shrimp (medium size)
- ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp sake
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice. See how to cook it with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- For your 4 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice, make sure it‘s at room temperature or slightly warmer. If you‘re using frozen cooked rice, defrost and warm it. Tip: If your cooked rice is still hot, transfer it to a large bowl or baking sheet (for more surface area). Spread it out and set aside for 60 minutes, uncovered, to remove the moisture.
- Cut half of the 2–3 cloves garlic into thin rounds widthwise (so you see a hole in the center). Mince the other half.
- Remove the leaves from the stems of 3 stalks parsley and mince the leaves.
To Cook the Garlic Fried Rice
- Add 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and the thinly sliced garlic pieces to a large frying pan over medium-high heat (or medium heat on a professional stove). Slowly fry the garlic slices until golden brown. If you add them to hot oil, they will cook too fast and you may end up with burnt garlic slices. Transfer to a dish lined with paper towel. Keep the garlic-infused oil in the pan.
- Add the minced garlic to the same pan and stir-fry until golden brown and fragrant.
- Add 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and swirl around to coat the pan. Then, add the steamed rice. Tip: If you use cold rice, it would take too long to warm up and the garlic would get too dark and may burn.
- Break up the chunks of rice with a wooden spatula to separate. Japanese short-grain rice is stickier than other types of rice, so it’s normal to stick together but it should not be in huge chunks. Once the rice is well coated in the garlic oil, add 1 tsp soy sauce and toss to coat the rice.
- Season with ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the rice and make sure it is seasoned to your liking.
- Lastly, add the chopped parsley and mix it all together.
To Serve
- Put the garlic fried rice in a rice bowl, pressing gently to make sure there is no space in the bowl, and invert the rice on an individual serving plate. Top with the fried garlic chips.
To Make the Grilled Shrimp Skewers (optional)
- If you‘d like to serve the garlic fried rice with grilled shrimp skewers, then shell 6 pieces shrimp and devein the shrimp. You can keep or remove the tail. Add 1 Tbsp sake and coat the shrimp well.
- Thread 3 shrimp on each damp skewer (previously soaked in water) without leaving spaces. Sprinkle with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Lay the skewers flat on a cast iron pan (or regular frying pan) greased with ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Cook the shrimp with the lid on about 2 minutes per side or just until cooked through and no longer transparent. Remove the shrimp from the pan and serve with the garlic fried rice.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3–4 days and in the freezer for a month.
Just made this for lunch and it was amazing!! Thank you so much!
Hi Ralph! Thank you for trying this recipe! So happy to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hello,
I’d love to try your recipe out, but unfortunately, I cannot eat white rice. Is there a brown rice substitute I can use?
Thank you
Luba
Hi Luba! You can use brown rice for this recipe. 🙂
Thanks for the excellent recipe! Had garlic fried rice for the first time in an izakaya (sadly not in Japan, but in Singapore, where I’m from) and didn’t know it was this easy to make. It went very well with your miso salmon!
Hi Enid! Awesome! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂 xoxo
[…] Japanese Garlic Fried Rice […]
Hi there,
Firstly, thanks for your recipe. It looks awesome! I tried but i dont know why my japanese short grain rice became sticky after frying. 🥺. Could you share your thoughts?
Thanks!
Best Regards,
Cheng
Hi Sook! Japanese rice is sticky than other types of rice. And depending on the amount of water and the type/kind of rice, stickiness varies. Make sure to evaporate the moisture so it’s less sticky. If you have time, you can keep the rice in the fridge to make rice hard before frying. 🙂
Wow this is so delicious! Thank you! Just one question – do you think vegetable oil is better for Japanese style cooking than olive oil? Many thanks
Hi Sam! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! It depends, good quality of extra virgin olive oil has a strong flavor to it, and if that doesn’t affect the dish (like this one), it’s okay. But I wouldn’t use olive oil to make… for example… Nikujaga or Oyakodon. 🙂
[…] recommendation is to buy a small bag and use it for your sushi and any other regular meals like fried rice, rice bowls and various rice dishes. There is really no reason why you’d need to substitute […]
[…] make more and have these garlic chips on hand for your other noodle dishes or rice dishes such as Garlic Fried Rice and Oxtail […]
[…] With Ebi Tatsuta-Age ガーリックフライドライス と エビの竜田揚げ Inspired by Just One Cookbook and Just Bento Serves […]
Just a comment about Nihonjin and garlic of course I don’t know about every other parts of Japan. I was born and raised in Hokkaido and many of us use garlic in our cooking (not as much as Italians) and many in Yokohama as well probably from the Chinese influence.
Though from seeing the many Japanese cooking recipes on the web especially the ones written in English the majority of dishes are basic city food etc. Except for you and a few others most of these English speaking or offered in English food blogs are done by non Japanese or non Asian people who understandably only seem to know about dishes they saw on TV or had when in Osaka or Tokyo etc or most what most mainstream traditional Japanese restaurants offer . I only see the same 20 dishes online same goes Korean or Chinese it seems.
My point is many times a blogger will see things here in Japan and assume the entire country is the same way. Like the nonsense of how most westerners think we all eat KFC for Christmas etc.
Thank you for your feedback, Kazunori-san!
Looks wonderful nice and simple too thanks. I was just curious what kind of a pan you are using it looks nice and non-stick even with the rice.
Hi Danielle! It’s a T-fal brand. You can see the link on http://www.justonecookbook.com/shop/ 🙂
Nami, this looks lovely! I love garlic but only eat it sparingly. Not a good dish with a date but a personal indulgence to enjoy! But then I pay the price later. Oh, well.
Having a Japanese mother, we ate fried rice a lot! Back in the mid to late 60s, it was common to use hotdogs, ham, and even Spam. I actually preferred just egg. She was creative and used leftovers sometimes. Peas would end up in there somehow and I hated peas. Peas are spherical and green and pleasant to look at but I didn’t like to eat them. They are more like “plate decorations.” I used to pick mine out and give them to my sister. One time, during the summer and school was out, my dad wouldn’t let me go outside to play unless I ate all the peas. I pushed them around on the plate for nearly an hour and he finally let me go outside. Just my memories from childhood. Omuraisu was like the same fried rice wrapped in egg. She never added ketchup to the rice but it was served at the table as a condiment. Thanks for not having peas in this recipe!:D
Hi Chieko! I think Japanese cooking involves almost no or 1-2 cloves garlic, at most so we don’t digest too well. Whenever I go to Taiwan, I always have issue with indigested garlic in my stomach. LOL.
Hahaha you’re welcome about the peas. Thank you for sharing your lovely memories and I really enjoyed your story!
Hi, Nami. I was going through the comments and found one by me from 5 years ago! 5 stars, of course. Funny. Anyway, I was looking for black garlic (kuro ninniku) fried rice and found this recipe again. I had already made my own and it was delicious! I love the sweetness kuro ninniku imparts to the rice. Simple but elegant with an indulgent taste. Oishii desu! And it won’t bother your stomach or give you garlic breath! I served it with oshitashi (Mom’s version) and grilled eggplant. Didn’t even need meat!
I always appreciate whatever you post and your inspiration. You help fill in some of the gaps of what my mother hadn’t cooked for me before she passed away. Since my mother came to the US in 1959, Japanese cooking has changed a lot. My cousin in Osaka gives cooking classes, some on local TV. She developed acquired celiac disease and discovered she was now allergic to oysters (hospitalized). She was quite surprised, and confused but shared everything on her FB page. Lol.
As always, Nami, thank you for bringing Japanese cooking to everyone! 🤭
Hello, Chieko! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post again and for your thoughtful comments.
Nami and everyone at JOC is thrilled to hear you continue to enjoy Nami’s recipes, and we appreciate your love and support.
Happy cooking!
Tried out this recipe last night, so simple but so delicious!
Hi Chelsea! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
Recipe looks great. I have a few questions: 1. Most fried rice recipes I have seen involve using rice refrigerated overnight. Would this help or hurt this recipe. 2. What kind of pan are you using? Does the design of the bottom with the little squares help? For fried rice I usually use a round bottom wok. Is the pan you are using a better choice? Thanks.
Hi Clarl! Thank you!
1) You can definitely use a day-old rice. Only suggestion I have is to make sure you warm up the rice before adding to the frying pan. If the rice is cold when you add to the pan, it takes forever to heat up the rice. If that happens, the garlic in the frying pan will burn by the time the rice is hot. Then it will be too bitter.
2) This one is non-stick by T-Fal. I could use my round bottom carbon steel wok too, but for the video it was too big and hard to shoot… so the largest frying pan that rice doesn’t stick is that one. Use your regular pan/wok that you use for making fried rice is great. You can make fried garlic in there too. 🙂
Hey Nami,
Love your recipes! My family and I are big fans!
What do you recommend on how to prepare the rice? Do you use rice that has been cooked the day before? Do you recommend a certain brand? We have been eating the Tamanishiki brand for the past couple of years.
Thanks and cheers!
Brian
Hi Brian! Thank you so much! Tamanishiki is good, I used to eat that brand when I was in college too. Nowadays we have more choices, but I think it’s a good brand. I make it in a rice cooker. You “can” use a day old rice too, as the rice is more dehydrated and easier to separate the rice, and texture is less sticky. If you use a day old rice (and cold), make sure to warm up so the rice gets heat up fast in the frying pan. If you use cold rice, it takes to long to warm up, and meanwhile the garlic will burn.