Showing posts with label pineapple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pineapple. Show all posts

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!

Friday, June 11, 2010

How to carve a Pineapple Boat

I saw some fresh pineapples on sale at our local grocery store a few days ago, so I decided to buy one to make some Pineapple Fried Rice (will post up the recipe later). Instead of just cutting the pineapple the usual way, I decided to make a Pineapple Boat, so that I can serve my Pineapple Fried Rice in it later on. Yeah, that's right. Just like how they would serve it in Thai restaurants :P Anyways, for those of you wondering, this is how you carve a pineapple boat.
Start off by laying the pineapple on it's side. Then, with a very sharp big knife, cut off about 1/3 of the pineapple.
This is how the pineapple likes after cutting. Put aside the smaller half (we will work on that later on) and we can start cutting up the bigger half.
Using a small but very sharp pairing knife, cut all around the edges of the pineapple.
Now, run the knife down both sides of the middle of the pineapple.
Then, cut the pineapple into cubes. It might be a little bit harder to cut through the middle of the pineapple, so you might need to apply a little bit more pressure.
Now, you can remove the pineapple cubes. Once you get the first piece out, it just gets easier with the rest.
Since this pineapple boat is pretty deep, you might not be able to remove all of the bottom with a knife. So, just use an ice cream scoop to remove all of the leftover pineapple.Try to make the base of the boat as smooth and clean as possible. Then, repeat all the steps for the smaller half of pineapple.

There you go! Two pineapple boats, ready to be used. I have also saved some of the juices from the pineapple, so that I can use it in my Pineapple Fried Rice recipe later on. You can fit enough fried rice in the bigger boat to feed about 2-3 people. The smaller boat is just perfect for one serving of rice. If you like, you can even serve up some salad, fruit cocktail or dessert on the smaller boat. It's totally up to you. So, the next time you are having some company over, why use boring plates? I bet they will be impressed if you serve up their meal in a pineapple boat! :P