Why It Works
- Charring the green onions (cebollitas) and cabbage develops smoky, savory depth that mimics the flavor you’d get from high-heat grilling or wok cooking.
- Frying the rice in the chorizo’s rendered fat infuses each grain with warm spices and porky richness, eliminating the need for additional seasonings.
- Adding chopped pickled jalapeños and a splash of their brine brightens the dish with acidity and gentle heat, balancing the richness of the meat and cheese.
This Mexican take on fried rice was inspired, surprisingly, by a dish at an Italian steakhouse. For my anniversary dinner at Be.Steak.A in Campbell, CA, I skimmed past the pastas and bistecca to order what looked like a rogue menu item: fried rice tossed with fennel-spiked sausage, pickled Calabrian chiles, and Pecorino Romano. It arrived loaded with warm spice, tangy heat, and just enough cheese to add a slightly funky flavor and glue the grains together. I loved it. Not just the flavors, but the whole idea of taking an Asian stir-fry framework and rebuilding it with flavors that fall outside the usual expectations. I also knew I couldn’t afford to go back every time I wanted to eat it again.
So I recreated the dish at home, using the Mexican-American flavors and ingredients I know best—the ones that live in my kitchen every day. I swapped the Italian sausage for chorizo, traded the Calabrian chiles for pickled jalapeños (plus a splash of their bracing pickling liquid), and showered everything with cotija instead of Pecorino. The result is something I now cook weekly, because it relies on ingredients I almost always have on hand and adapts to whatever produce odds and ends I have. It also hinges on a technique I love in Italian, Asian, and Mexican cooking: adding ingredients in small batches to a ripping-hot pan so they char, caramelize, and build layers of flavor.
Start with Char
If there’s a Mexican analog to wok hei—breath of the wok—it’s the blistered, flame-kissed edges of carne asada and cebollitas grilled directly over coals. Cebollitas—scallions with extra-plump bulbs—char beautifully, turning smoky, savory, and slightly sweet. For this recipe, I cut the bulbs into petal-shaped pieces and sear them alongside cabbage; the cabbage softens and chars while the onions blacken at the edges, giving the fried rice a dose of fire-flavor right up front. Cebollitas are available at most Latin grocers, but if you can’t find them, regular scallions will work, though the larger bulbs of cebollitas add more varied texture and bite.
Serious Eats / Lorena Masso
Cooking the Chorizo
I love using Mexican chorizo in this fried rice because it brings built-in seasoning and deep, meaty heft to the dish. Its warm spices and rich fat do the heavy lifting, so you don’t need to dig into a pantry’s worth of spices to build flavor. Make sure you’re using fresh Mexican chorizo—the loose, raw ground meat kind—not cured Spanish chorizo. The tube-style versions found in many supermarkets will work in a pinch, but they tend to be watery and don’t brown as easily. Whenever possible, buy chorizo from the butcher counter at a Latin American grocery store—it crisps up better and usually tastes brighter and porkier. The rendered fat becomes the stir-fry medium, flavoring the rice with warm spices and meaty flavor. Get the chorizo as crisp as possible—it’s the main source of crunch in an otherwise soft, fluffy dish.
Serious Eats / Lorena Masso
Adding a Hot and Sour Element
Pickled jalapeños are the backbone of this fried rice. They balance the richness of the pork and cheese with vinegary brightness and a gentle heat that wakes the whole dish up. The real secret weapon is the pickling liquid itself, infused with flavor from the chiles and spices. A tablespoon is enough to sharpen the other flavors in the dish without overpowering them. If you have other pickled chiles on hand, feel free to experiment—just adjust the quantity if you’re using something punchier, like habanero. A squeeze of lime at the end also plays well with the tangy, spicy profile.
This dish is not only delicious, but it comes together in less than 30 minutes and is easy to customize with ingredients you have on hand.
Serious Eats / Lorena Masso
