Asian fried rice with tiger prawns
We often have a lot of leftover rice in our house from the kids’ dinnertimes so I’ll store it in the fridge to use the following day in this dish. It holds together really well when the rice has been in the fridge overnight, but that’s by no means necessary, so cook from scratch there and then if you don’t have leftovers. My stepkids adore this dish as they’re big prawn fans, but it’s also glorious without if you want a veggie dish. The flavours are sensational and moreish and make this such a comforting dish. Get all the ingredients prepped before you start cooking, as you need to throw them all into the pan quite quickly.
SERVES 4 3 tbsp vegetable oil 350g tiger prawns, peeled 6 cloves garlic, crushed 2 eggs, beaten 4cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely grated 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce ½ tsp toasted sesame oil 2 tsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp lime juice 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced 800g cooked jasmine rice (roughly 370g uncooked) 4 spring onions, finely sliced 1 red onion, halved and very thinly sliced small handful of fresh Thai or regular basil leaves, to serve sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
♥ Pour 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil into a large wok or pan and set over a high heat. When it is hot, add the prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add a quarter of the garlic and stir-fry for another minute, until the prawns are just cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a bowl. ♥ Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Once hot, add the beaten eggs and scramble for 30 seconds until just cooked. Add the ginger, tamari or soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, most of the chilli and the remaining garlic and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Add the cooked rice and toss together, then spread the rice out over the base of the pan. Fry for 30 seconds then toss together. Repeat this process a few more times until the rice begins to crisp up. This may take a little longer with freshly cooked rice as it contains more moisture. ♥ Add most of the spring onions and red onion and toss together. Adjust the seasoning to taste (don’t use soy sauce as this will make the rice soggy). ♥ Serve immediately on a large plate with the cooked prawns, the basil and the remaining chilli, spring onion and red onion scattered over.