Pineapple fried rice is one of my favorite dish growing up as kids. My brother and I are easy to feed. Anything that comes with a little bit of sweetness and we love it. That’s why pineapple fried rice is still my all-time favorite dish. Twenty years later, I know that authentic pineapple fried rice is much more than just sweet fried rice. It’s still my favorite, but now with a different perspective.
Pineapple fried rice is one of the most representative Thai dish. We are going to take a quick look on how to make this at home!
Ingredients
- 7 shrimps
- ½ cup of diced ham
- ½ cup of fresh diced pineapple
- ½ cup of diced onions
- 1 Tbsp of soy sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of curry powder
- ⅓ cup of cashew (optional)
- ½ cup of green onions
- 2 cup of cooked rice
- 2 eggs
Heat up your pan at medium heat. Add only 1 tbsp of oil. Later we will have more oil throughout the process, therefore we don’t want to add too much at this point.
Here is experience I want to share with you. In my early years of cooking I always make fried rice because it’s super easy and full of variety. The basic structure of fried rice will be this:
- flavored oil – either you pick a kind of oil that has flavor already, like butter or sesame oil, or you infuse the flavor into it, such as stir frying garlic or onion first. Whatever and however you process, you need to have flavored oil which determines the style and flavor of your fried rice
- solid ingredients – You can add any kind of protein or vegetables into it as long as it’s solid and won’t break apart while stir frying. Always cook raw protein first because you don’t want to have uncooked chicken or pork in your fried rice. Stir frying your solid ingredient in your flavored oil to coat it with your choice of aroma.
- Cold rice – Rice is important. You want to have rice that is not squishy so that you end up with fried rice instead of squished rice. Overnight rice is good. Cold rice is good. Long grain rice is good. There are many factor which plays into the way to allow “grain by grain” separation.(粒粒分明)
- Seasoning – You can add your seasoning to enrich the flavor or enhance the color. Add your choice of seasoning and stir until it’s even. At this point, your fried rice is done.
When the oil is heat up. Add 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry diced onions at high heat for 1 min
Add shrimps. As always, Costco shrimps is still my all time favorite. Cook until it just turns color
Add diced ham, stir fry for another 30 sec
Add pineapple, stir fry for 30 sec
You might wonder if the sequence of adding these ingredients is important. It is somewhat important. Usually, you want to add raw protein or things that takes longer to cook first, and add those can be quickly cooked last. By the time you remove from your pan, everything should be cooked just perfectly, not overcooked nor undercooked.
Set aside for later use
Add another tbsp of oil, turn the heat to high. Add two egg
When it’s half cooked, add 2 cups of the cold rice, start stir frying
Add curry powder and other seasoning
Stir fry until the color is even, about 3 min
Add solid ingredients back. Stir fry until even.
Plating
Here is how I carve the pineapple.
Enjoy!
- 7 shrimps
- ½ cup of diced ham
- ½ cup of fresh diced pineapple
- ½ cup of diced onions
- 1 Tbsp of soy sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of curry powder
- ⅓ cup of cashew
- ½ cup of green onions
- 2 cup of cooked rice
- 2 eggs
- Dice pineapple and other ingredient
- Stir fry diced onion with 2 tbsp of oil for 1 min at high heat
- Stir fry shrimps or your choice of raw protein until it just turn color.
- Add diced ham or your choice of cooked protein and stir fry for 30 sec at high heat
- Add diced pineapple and stir fry for 30 sec at high heat
- Set aside for later use
- Turn the stove back to high heat
- With another teaspoon of oil, add two eggs
- When it’s half-cooked, add cool cooked rice and stir fry until it’s mixed even
- Add curry powder and other seasoning
- Stir fry the rice at high heat for 3 min
- Add pineapple mixture and cashew to the rice and stir fry until even