Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice came to mind when I thought about what other dishes I could come up with for this month's theme on Little Thumbs Up. I have always wanted to try the Pineapple Fried Rice at the Thai restaurants, you know the one they serve in a pineapple boat. Somehow, till today I never got a chance to do that.

And I thought, why not cook a Pineapple Fried Rice using my grandma's fried rice recipe. My grandma uses a spice paste made of fresh chillies, onions, garlic, dried prawns and belacan. Pretty much like the spice paste for Pineapple Kerabu except that the kerabu spice paste does not contain garlic. See how versatile this spice paste is? It is also used for cooking Mee Siam, something to be attempted in the near future.

Fried rice is best cooked using overnight rice as the rice grains are firm and dry. So the day before, I cooked some rice. I was a bit disappointed as the rice was a bit on the soggy side because I put a bit too much water. I remember my auntie telling me that the amount of water needs to be adjusted depending on whether the rice is "new" rice or "old" rice. When you have just opened a packet of rice, that is "new" rice. I usually like Basmathi rice but Aeon ran out of the small packets.

It didn't really matter as the fried rice turned out alright but there was something missing. Yikes! I realised that I had forgotten to add garlic to the spice paste. Drat! Double drat! But seriously, it wasn't that bad. The fried rice was still good as the belacan and dried prawns made the fried rice very tasty and the aroma was fabulous. And the sweet and sour pineapple made the fried rice even tastier.

If only I had been a little bit more industrious and peeled my own pineapple, I would have been able to fashion a pineapple boat to serve the fried rice. Oh well, I don't think it is that easy to carve out the pineapple flesh. I guess I saved myself the stress as I am quite sure I would have murdered the poor pineapple and there would not be a pineapple boat in sight!

Pineapple Fried Rice
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 600g overnight cooked rice
- 150g chicken fillet, cut into small cubes
- 200g prawns
- 350g pineapple cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soya sauce
- oil for frying

Spice paste :
- 3 red chillies (more if you like)
- 1 big onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons dried prawns, soaked and drained
- 15g belacan

Method :

For spice paste :
1. Blend all ingredients and set aside.

For fried rice :
1. Heat oil in wok and fry prawns until cooked.
2. Remove the prawns and set aside.
3. In the same oil, saute the blended spice paste until aromatic.
4. Add chicken fillet and continue frying until chicken is cooked.
5. Add rice and stir until rice is well mixed with the spice paste.
6. Add soya sauce and fish sauce and stir to mix well. Taste and adjust if necessary.
6. Add the cooked prawns and pineapples and stir to mix with the rice.
7. Garnish with sliced red chillies and coriander if you like.

 

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY.