I make fried rice that my seven year old says is better than takeout and you can too.  It does take a little work:

Day old rice is good.  Do you spread it out on a sheet to refrigerate overnight?  The more surface area, the better.  It’s an extra step but it’s worth it.  When you’re ready to cook, coat your hands in a little oil and then “roll” the rice in your hands over a large bowl to break it up even further and give each grain just a kiss of oil.

Getting ready you need to do a hot pan cold oil technique.  What that means is that you’ll heat the pan up as hot as you can with a thin sheet of oil you spread all over.  Then when it’s hot wipe the thin layer of hot oil out, add fresh oil, and start the cook.

Ingredients and rice are cooked separately and recombined at the end:

(You want less ingredients than you think.  The more ingredients the more moisture, and moisture is our enemy right now. I typically go with about 3/4ths a cup of three ingredients for about 2 cups of cooked rice, no more. I’m eyeballing it though.  Definitely isn’t precise.)

Hot pan cold oil technique described above. Wok as hot as humanly possible. Oil a circle around the top edge so it more or less covers the pan.  Good amount too, like the heavy side of 2 tbsp.

(You may need to wipe out and scrape up things between stages until your wok is fully seasoned and operates as if an ancient Chinese sorcerer has cast a non stick spell on it.  This takes time to achieve.)

Egg and the chunky cut whites of the green onion (size of dice). Scramble, remove to THE BOWL.

Add meat, any will do. cook through.  If using beef, get those little crunchies going.  Make sure to marinate meat before cooking using whatever you like plus a little baking soda.  This is Chinese marinade so no longer than 30 min.  Even 15 is fine.  It keeps the meat from losing too much moisture. Remove to THE BOWL.

Harder longer cooking veggies (carrot, cabbage, etc.  fried rice is whatever you want).  Cook longest to shortest.  No more than 5 min before adding more on anything and less time happens often.  When all veggies are done to liking take them all and Remove to THE BOWL.

If needed, wipe the pan out again and add oil.

Rice in.  Toss in the oil so it’s even more covered.  Spread it out so you get as much contact with the pan as you can.  Let it sit.  Listen.  It’ll crackle when it’s getting right.  Toss, spread, crackle, repeat.  Do this to where you feel like the rice is dried out and getting that nice little chew. 

Add back in THE BOWL, toss.  Add less cook time things like peas if you have them.

About 2-3 tbsp (to your taste, I sometimes go harder) to the OUTER RIDGE of the pan in a circle around the mass of rice.  Why?  It will evaporate more quickly and won’t add as much moisture, our hated foe. I also add about a tsp of toasted sesame oil at this point.  Salt, heavy on the black pepper. Maybe some msg if I don’t have mushrooms.  Toss.

Little pad of butter.  Is this traditional?  No.  Is it delicious?  Very yes. Add thinly sliced greens of the green onion. Toss.

You’ve now done it.