Fried Rice with Blistered Green Beans and Basil

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 cups cooked white or jasmine rice
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 to 3 Thai bird chilies, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce, plus more for serving
• 1 large egg
• Kosher salt
• 1 ounce roughly torn Thai or sweet Italian basil leaves
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Sugar, to taste
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges, for serving
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced, for serving

Directions

1. If the rice has been chilled overnight, place it in a medium bowl and gently separate the clumps with your fingers so the grains are loose. Warm 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large wok over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add half the rice and fry it, stirring and flipping often, until the grains turn lightly browned, taste toasted, and feel a bit chewy, about 3 minutes. Move that batch to a medium bowl. Do the same with another 1/2 tablespoon oil and the rest of the rice.
2. Pour 1/2 tablespoon oil into the empty wok and set it back over high heat until smoking. Add the green beans and cook, stirring and tossing now and then, until they are well blistered with charred spots. Add the scallions, garlic, and chilies, then cook while stirring and tossing the mixture continuously, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Scrape the rice back into the wok. Pour in the soy sauce and fish sauce, then toss everything together until evenly mixed.
4. Move the rice over to one side of the wok and add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to the open space. Crack the egg into the oil and sprinkle it with a little salt. Scramble it with a spatula, chopping it into small pieces as it cooks, then fold it through the rice.
5. Add the basil and stir it in. Adjust the seasoning with salt, white pepper, and sugar as needed, then bring it to the table right away with lime, cucumber, and, if you like, more fish sauce and sliced chilies.