Calories in Egg Fried Rice

The recipe is a home version of Chinese-style fried rice with egg. One plate uses 50 g of raw rice, 50 g of egg, which is about one egg, 50 g each of cabbage, French beans, carrot and spring onion, 25 g of capsicum and 1 tablespoon of oil. There is more vegetable than rice in the pan, so this is a lighter and more mixed plate than the rice-heavy version sold at restaurants and street carts, where a single order is larger, oilier and often shared. A fried rice made without egg will have less protein than the figure here.

The energy is split almost evenly between carbohydrate, at 45%, and fat, at 41%, with protein supplying 14%. The fat comes from the tablespoon of oil and from the egg; the carbohydrate comes mostly from the rice. Because the rice is only 50 g, carbohydrate takes a smaller share here than in the pulaos of the same set, and the egg and vegetables lift the protein to 14.2 g and the fibre to 8.1 g. The result, 424 kcal, sits in the middle of the 13 rice dishes: lighter than vegetable pulao at 496 kcal, heavier than jeera rice at 366 kcal.

This plate of egg fried rice is about 20% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 26% of a woman's. With 14.2 g of protein and 8.1 g of fibre it works as a one-dish meal in a way plain rice does not. In a restaurant it is usually ordered with a gravy dish such as chilli chicken or Manchurian, which is deep-fried and sauced, and that pairing adds far more than the rice itself. Two plates of this recipe are 848 kcal and 38.2 g of fat.

Salt is the caveat. Soy sauce and seasoning make fried rice a salty dish, and a sauced side dish adds more. The egg also brings some cholesterol. People who have been advised to limit salt or dietary cholesterol, for blood pressure, a heart condition or kidney disease, should follow the limits set by their doctor or dietitian. The figure is for a home recipe; a restaurant plate is larger and oilier.