Who Invented the Thai Dish American Fried Rice?

Thai in origin but not found outside Thailand, there is more than one version of the origin of American fried rice.

It isn’t spicy. There’s ketchup and raisins in the rice. What the fried rice is served with can be anything that associated with America. In this case, hotdogs and slices of SPAM. Fried chicken and bacon are just as popular.

I had my doubts when I first heard about American fried rice. Ketchup? Raisins? But trust me when I say that it delicious! The tang of the ketchup (plus a little lime juice) and the sweetness of the raisins make an amazing combination.

What’s the story behind American fried rice? One version is that the manager of a Thai restaurant was left with plenty of American food after an airline cancelled its order of breakfast and lunch sets for its passengers. She served the leftovers with fried rice and American fried rice was born.

Another story has it that it was created by Thai cooks during the Vietnam war to give visiting American soldiers a taste of their home cooking.

Then, there’s the observation — the one that sounds most plausible to me — that Thai cooks observed what Americans ate with their carbs and simply added these ingredients to fried rice.

Interesting? Interested in making it? See our American fried rice recipe.