This dish differs from Chinese fried rice in that it is prepared with Thai jasmine rice instead of regular long-grain rice. It normally contains meat (chicken, shrimp, and crab are all common), egg, onions, garlic and sometimes tomatoes. The seasonings, which may include soy sauce, sugar, salt, possibly some chili sauce, and the ubiquitous nampla (fish sauce), are stir-fried together with the other ingredients. The dish is then plated and served with accompaniments like cucumber slices, tomato slices, lime and sprigs of green onion and coriander, and phrik nampla, a spicy sauce made of sliced Thai chilies, chopped garlic cloves, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.
Variants
Thai fried rice has many variants denoted by main ingredient or region. Examples include:
Khao phat namliap (ข้าวผัดหนำเลี้ยบ) – fried rice with Chinese olives
Khao phat sapparot (ข้าวผัดสับปะรด) – pineapple fried rice, or a more elaborate version known as khao op sapparot (ข้าวอบสับปะรด), served inside a hollowed-out pineapple and garnished with raisins and cashew nuts[4]
Khao phat che (ข้าวผัดเจ) – vegetarian fried rice
khao phat tom yam (ข้าวผัดต้มยำ) – a type of fried rice that is adapted from tom yum soup and fried rice
Khao phat kaeng khiao wan (ข้าวผัดแกงเขียวหวาน) – fried rice mixed with green curry paste
Khao phat nam phrik long ruea (ข้าวผัดน้ำพริกลงเรือ) – fried rice mixed with nam phrik long ruea, a type of chili paste
Khao phat amerikan (ข้าวผัดอเมริกัน: "American fried rice") uses hot dogs, fried chicken, and eggs as side dishes or mixed into fried rice with ketchup added. It was served to U.S. soldiers in Thailand during the Vietnam War, but now has become common in Thailand.[7]
^"ข้าวผัดรถไฟ เมนูในตำนานแห่งรถไฟไทย" [Khao phat rotfai, the legendary dish of Thai railways]. Maeban (in Thai). 12 March 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
