Sunday, June 13, 2010

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

As promised, here is the recipe for Thai Pineapple Fried Rice. As the name suggest, Thai Pineapple Fried Rice is a well known Thai dish but is widely found in other Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia too. There are quite a number of different recipes floating all over the Internet but I find this recipe to be really yummy and pretty authentic. Not only that, it's really easy to make too. Just imagine, you can whip up restaurant quality Pineapple Fried Rice in your own kitchen in less than half an hour! Here's how you do it.
To start off, heat up some peanut oil in a large pan or wok. If you do not have peanut oil, vegetable oil will do too. Then, add in some finely chopped garlic and saute until it turns light brown.
Next, add in some hot dog franks that has been chopped into small pieces. If you do not want to use hot dog franks, you can also use Chinese sausages. Also, you can make this into a seafood dish by substituting the franks with squid rings and/or crab sticks. If you are planning to add in seafood, do so after the peas and carrots (cos they cook faster).
Then, add in some peas and carrots. Give it a good stir and allow it to cook for a bit.
Once it's almost cooked, add in some extra large white shrimp that has been peeled and cleaned.
Allow it to cook for a bit then add in some chunks of fresh pineapple. You could of course use canned pineapples too but fresh ones always taste better. Then, add in the pineapple juice that you saved when you were carving the pineapple boat. If you don't intend to serve it in a pineapple boat (hence no saved juice), just add in about 3-4 tablespoons of pineapple juice for a can/bottle.
Now it's time to add in the rice. Remember not to use freshly cooked rice. It is best to use rice that is at least a day old. What I would usually do is cook the rice the night before or early in the morning and keep it in the refrigerator if I intend to make fried rice for dinner.
Mix in the rice with the rest of the ingredients. Once you have mixed the rice well, sprinkle some turmeric powder into your pan. This is to give it color as well as that distinct 'pineapple fried rice' taste'. After sprinkling on the turmeric powder, add in some fish sauce to give it some taste. If you are planning to make vegetarian pineapple fried rice, you can use soy sauce too.
The next thing you need to do is add in some fried egg strips that you have prepared earlier. This is what you do. Beat two eggs and pour it into a frying pan. Make sure that it covers the whole pan, thus spreading it into a thin layer. Allow it to cook on one side, then flip over and allow it to cook on the other side. Once it's done, remove from the pan, allow it to cool for a bit and cut it into thin strips. This is how you make egg strips.
Continue to fry the rice on high heat. When the rice is almost done, add in some raisins.
After the raisins, add in some roasted cashew nuts. Just give it another quick stir or two and your pineapple fried rice is done!
There you go. A huge wok filled with yummy pineapple fried rice! I just love this dish. It's a great combination of taste and textures...totally awesome. You can serve the pineapple fried rice in a large pineapple boat. The rice in a large pineapple boat should be enough to feed 2-3 people. If you are planning to serve in single servings, you can then just use the smaller pineapple boat. Click here to learn how to carve a pineapple boat. Enjoy!

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