This recipe is going to start with some narrative and explanation.
I love Asian food. All of it. As a Jew, of course I gravitate towards Chinese food (I’ve discussed this in earlier articles). But I equally love Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Indian food.
One of the earliest types of cooking I learned how to do is stir frying, and it remains one of my go-to methods of preparing food. Fried rice, in particular, is one of my comfort foods.
When I was in middle school I became friends with a Japanese classmate, Kentaro. He and I are still friends today (though I haven’t seen him physically in ~30 years – he lives on the west coast). Ken is brilliant, and was a weird and goofy kid in the same way that I was in middle school. I know now that a lot of that weirdness was really just being brought up in an ethnic culture that wasn’t the mainstream, but I didn’t get that at the time. Ken’s parents came over from Japan either right before or right after Ken was born (I don’t remember which). I remember that their English was hard to understand, but they were very welcoming and friendly people – though his dad was terrifying (that’s a whole different set of stories).
Ken’s mom is an amazing cook, and the first time I was at his house she made fried rice for lunch. That’s when I learned how to eat with chop sticks…
Mr. Sugiyama (in very heavily Japanese accented English): Mark, you don’t know how to use chopsticks?
10 year old Mark: No sir.
Mr. Sugiyama: Hmmm. You should learn. Otherwise, hungry.
He then proceeded to teach me how to use chopsticks.
Mr. Sugiyama was sent to the US by the Japanese Karate Association to evangelize Karate in America, and he set up a school in Chicago. He was a very nice guy who, when you met him, you instinctively knew could put his hand through your sternum and out the back of your spine whenever he felt like it.
Anyhow, that was my introduction to fried rice (and chopsticks), and it’s one of my favorites to this day. It’s been too many years since I’ve eaten Mrs. Sugiyama’s fried rice for me to remember if this is close to hers, but hers is definitely the inspiration for mine.
I’m calling this fusion fried rice because I’m mixing different Asian flavor profiles in a way that traditional Asian cooks might find scandalous (or they might not, I don’t actually know).

One note on kitchen gear before moving on to the recipe. You should have a wok. A real wok, which means carbon steel, not non-stick, and very high heat tolerant. Mine is thirty years old, it’s a genuine Hand Hammered Wok bought off the infomercial that aired in 1990. It was actually the first purchase I ever made with a credit card.
I know I’m reiterating stuff I said in my last article (https://yetanotherfoodblog.com/2020/02/21/stir-fried-pork-belly-with-green-beans-and-bok-choy/), but I wouldn’t actually make fried rice without a wok (Mrs. Sugiyama made it in a frying pan, but I’m not the cook she is).
Before I list any of the ingredients or process for this recipe, take your wok and put on a very high flame and leave it there.
Seriously. Get it super hot. To the point that it’s smoking.
Now proceed with the rest of the recipe.

You’ll need:
High heat tolerant oil – I use peanut oil, but grapeseed or coconut oil will also work.
3 good sized shallots, sliced.
1 inch of ginger, peeled and sliced into slivers.
4 or 5 scallions, sliced.
5 or 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced.
8 ounces or so shitake or oyster mushrooms; washed, stemmed, and sliced.
Protein (I used a pound of frozen shelled and de-veined shrimp for this batch).
Frozen peas
2 cups cooked white rice.
Good soy sauce (I used Kikoman Dark Organic)
Rice Vinegar (I use Marukan. They make seasoned and unseasoned, but frankly I can’t tell the difference and use them interchangeably).
Fish Sauce (I use Red Boat, so should you. It’s a bit more expensive, but absolutely worth it)
Chili paste (I use Hoy Fong food’s Sambal Oelek)
Five Spice Powder (I like Pensey’s – the cinnamon is more dominant than in most brands, where the anise is more dominant).
Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrin’s, of course).

Do all your prep work before you start cooking. And have all your bottled and jarred ingredients where you can get them quickly, and loosen or remove the caps. Have all your ingredients within reach also, this is going to go fast. I do all my cutting and then put all my ingredients into small bowls to toss in. This is going to go fast. You might actually want to have someone read this to you as you’re doing it, if you have to unlock your phone or go back to your screen between steps you might burn things.

Your wok has been heating while you’re reading this and doing all your prep work, right?
Good.
Start by adding about an inch and a half of oil to the wok. Don’t be alarmed when it starts smoking.
(yes – this is the same smoking wok photo I used in my last article).

Add your shallots, scallions, and mushrooms to the oil and start tossing them around in the pan.
When they start to reduce in size pour soy sauce into the pan around everything. You have enough soy sauce when you can start to smell it. Keep tossing stuff around.
Add the ginger and keep cooking until it’s fragrant.

Splash in some rice vinegar. Enough that you can smell it.
Add your protein and keep it moving in the wok until it’s browned. If things are sticking add a bit more oil.
Once your protein has browned, and your vegetables are discolored and reduced in size, use the spatula to pull them up the sides of the wok. They should cling to the sides and allow liquids to drain into the bowl (this is why you don’t want a non-stick wok).
Add more rice vinegar, a splash more of soy sauce, and a couple of shots of fish sauce to the bowl. Pour in ~two tablespoons of five spice powder, and chili paste to taste. Mix that all up and then stir the veggies and the meat down into the liquid.
Add the garlic and stir fry for another minute or two.
Add the rice. You might need to break up clumps, and that’s okay, but keep things moving so they don’t scorch or stick.

Keep all the food moving until the rice is fully incorporated into the rest and is taking on the color of the sauce.
Add in about a cup of the frozen peas (they’ll thaw and cook very quickly).

Mix the peas in and stir until they cook through.
Plate into bowls directly from the wok.
Top with a splash or Worcestershire sauce (I learned that from Mrs. Sugiyama).