April 9, 2010

Pineapple Fried Rice

Ever since both my college kids moved out of the house, I have to learn to cook less and sometimes there are still leftovers for the both of us. I have some leftover brown rice and the dish that comes to mind is fried rice served in hollowed out pineapple. If you don't have fresh pineapple, you can substitute with canned pineapple, which is a bit too sweet. This is my version of what you can do with leftover rice.
Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 cup cooked brown rice (or white)
1 fresh pineapple
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
¼ lb. prawns (peeled and deveined)
½ cup frozen peas (rinsed and drained)
2 small sweet peppers, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. roasted cashews (optional)
¼ cup raisins
1 egg (beaten)
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
½ tsp. turmeric powder
¼ tsp. cayenne powder
1 piece kaffir lime leaf (thinly sliced)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
cilantro for garnishing
Method:
1. Rub the cooked rice to separate them if they are in lumps. Cut pineapple in half, remove fruit and cut in small chunks. Be carefully not to cut through the skin. Reserve one cup of fruits for the rice.
2. Mix fish sauce, turmeric powder, and cayenne powder in a small bowl.
 3. In a frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and fry shallots till soft and fragrant. Add the prawns and kaffir lime leaf and cook till prawns turned red in color, stirring occasionally.
4. Add in the peas follow by the beaten egg, stir to mix for about 5-10 minutes. Add in rice, spices, raisins, pineapples, and nuts if used. Stir to mix until all the ingredients, or until the rice is slightly dried.
5. Remove from heat, spoon into hollowed-out pineapple halves and garnish with cilantro.
Printable Recipe           

2 comments:

Justine said...

Wow that looks beautiful! I love the ideas of serving it in the pineapple.

Justine

Melinda Tai said...

Thanks for your comment! Do you know that pineapple is also great in curries?