Welcome back Phoodies! This week The Phoody is whipping up some Thai Fried Rice. The beauty of this recipe is you can really dress it up however you want. If basil isn’t your thing, use pineapple. Get creative with the vegetable choices…snap beans, water chestnuts, peppers, even almonds or cashews…the combinations are endless. Get creative with your favorites and come up with your own unique version!
Thai food has always been one of my favorites (green curry makes me swoon), and the flavors are always complex and powerful. But fair warning, the smell of fish sauce is NOT for timid. But don’t let that scare you off…I promise it will taste great!
Prep-time: 20 minutes
Cook-time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice chilled
- 0.25 cups high smoke point cooking oil (not olive)
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 minced Serrano chile peppers (more if you want more heat), or 3-4 red and green Thai chiles
- PROTEIN (chicken, firm tofu, shrimp, beef, clams…) as you can see, we’re doing chicken and shrimp
- 3-5 T. Oyster Sauce
- 2-4 T. Fish Sauce
- 1 t. Sugar
- Vegetables: white onion, red/green bell pepper, water chestnuts, pineapple, snap beans, baby corn, bamboo shoots, cucumber… Get creative!
- 2 cups fresh sweet basil leaves
Cooking directions:
1. Place oil in wok on high heat. Add garlic and chile peppers and cook until garlic starts to brown slightly.
2. Add protein and cook until done. Make sure you know the cook time needed. When using chicken and shrimp, cook chicken all the way through and add raw shrimp in the last 30-45 seconds of cook time or they will overlook and become rubbery.
3. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar to wok and pix until protein is coated.
4. Add cold rice to wok and mix until completely coated in sauce. Set aside in large mixing bowl.
5. Wipe wok, and throw vegetables in until cooked to the proper texture. Onion should be opaque, and only very slightly crunchy, peppers should be nearly raw, but heated through…make sure you throw in your vegetables in a progression so they all are cooked properly and the end result isn’t a ball of mush. If using basil, it should be the very last thing you add. The heat of the entire dish with wilt it just enough.
6. Add protein rice mixture to wok, and mix until vegetables are well combined.
7. Serve immediately and garnish with either fresh basil, or cilantro, and serve with soy sauce, siracha, and/or chili oil. Enjoy!
– The Phoody
