Make a Breakfast Burrito With Last Night's Fried Rice

The best fried rice is made with “leftover” rice. Specifically, rice that has already been cooked, then dried, usually in the refrigerator. The best breakfast burritos are, in turn, made with leftover fried rice—or at least, that’s what was inside the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

It started with an order of phat kaphrao, which is not a fried rice dish, but a Thai dish made with meat that has been stir fried with Thai holy basil and served with rice. It was a very generous (very spicy) portion, and I was able to stretch it across several meals. The first was consumed-as is (obviously). The second meal was a DIY fried rice of sorts—the leftover meat and rice fried in butter and seasoned with a little soy sauce. (It was delicious.) Even still, I had leftovers of this second iteration, which I was not mad about.

The third and final meal took the shape of a breakfast burrito—spicy pork basil pork, rice, egg, a little ham, and a little cheese all came together in a warm tortilla. The Thai dish turned a good breakfast burrito into a great one, by bringing heat, umami (thanks to funky fish sauce), and herby flavor (by way of holy basil)—just what I needed to balance the richness of the eggs and cheese. (Call if “fusion” if you must, but it’s really just a woman utilizing her leftovers to the best of her ability.)

You don’t need to make your own fried rice to take advantage of this maneuver. Any fried rice, whether take-out or homemade, will work beautifully. Start by re-heating the rice in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot and crackling, make a hole in the middle of the rice and crack an egg or two in there, then quickly scramble before mixing in to the rice. Add any other (cooked) breakfast meats you desire, then throw on some cheese, move the pan off the heat, and let it melt. While the cheese is melting, heat your tortilla over a burner to give it some nice browned spots, then slide your filling on top, roll it up, and get your mouth around it.