American fried rice


American fried rice is a Thai Chinese fried rice dish with "American" side ingredients like fried chicken, ham, hot dogs, raisins, ketchup. Other ingredients like pineapples and croutons are optional.

History

Khun Ying Sureepan Maneewat, the wife of "Chao Krung" newspaper's pioneer editor Vilas Maneewat, claimed to the Sakul Thai magazine that the American fried rice is her creation. She was a manager of Ratchathani Restaurant, the restaurant of Don Mueang Airport which cooked meals for several airines. One day, an airline cancelled a flight, leaving her loads of prepared American breakfast; sunny eggs, sausages and hams. Sureepan decided to cook the American breakfast ingredients with the leftover fried rice, hence the name "American fried rice". The proteins varied day-to-day, depending on which "American breakfast" was left on the day, from sausages and hams to baked chicken. Although she could not recall the year she created it, it is assumed to be sometime before 1954 when she left for her study in the UK.
However, some believe that the American fried rice was created by a Thai chef, "Go Jek", during the Vietnam War era to serve to United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force personnel stationed in Korat and Udon Thani, Thailand, it was not generally found in Thai restaurants outside Thailand, but with the proliferation of Thai restaurants in the United States, American fried rice is now appearing on Thai restaurant menus there.