Takeout No More: Try This Homemade Fried Rice
Homemade meals are usually healthier, they have much more flavor. Compared to takeout, you can’t deny it: takeout is for the weak, is it not? All jokes aside, there’s nothing like a true homemade dish when it’s also simple and quick to make. This shrimp stir fry rice recipe only requests one skillet, a few ingredients and your wish to have a tasty and filling meal. Are you up for the not-so-much-of-a-challenge? Keep reading and find out!
From Asia to the world
Fried rice is what we also know as Chinese rice. The precise origins might not be so easy to point at, although we can say that it’s Chinese for sure, fried rice has become very popular over the years. Besides, ancient as it is, it remains to this day a staple food in the region.
Why is that so? Because it’s: rice, meat and vegetables in a steaming bowl, perfect for any autumn night.
The benefits are right there, only one skillet, a classic ingredient as rice and then, you choose the rest. Once you choose, it couldn’t get any simpler to combine and create many versions of it.
Some tips for the perfect recipe
The only ‘con’ we could point out is that, to make the best version of fried rice, you should plan the meal ahead. What does that mean? It is ideal that you use rice leftovers to make fried rice and that means you should cook a batch of it a day in advance. But this could actually be a pro. You make a batch of rice and prepare two meals with it. Who doesn’t want to have all the meals for the week planned ahead?
Alright, so, rice leftovers are the best option for fried rice. This will prevent you from getting a gloppy and mushy dish. Rice will be drier and firmer.
Another tip is using a fragrant kind of rice, you could choose between Jasmine and Basmati and the difference only relies on taste. So, feel free to try both out and choose the one you like most. Remember that this kind of rice requires less water; only a cup of water for every cup of rice.
The last tip has to do with the cooking method, as you’ll see in the recipe below, you should cook all the ingredients separately and mix them together right before serving. This will make each ingredient’s flavor stay and not be mixed and altered.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of Basmati or Jasmine rice.
- 2 cups of water.
- 4 cups of fresh shrimp.
- 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
- 2 eggs.
- 1 red bell pepper.
- 1 onion.
- 1 cup of snow peas.
- ½ cup of frozen peas.
- Soy sauce to taste.
- 1 green onion.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions:
- Start by cooking the rice, remember the water proportion for Basmati and Jasmine rice is a one-to-one proportion. You’ll preferably do this a day or two in advance.
- In a wide skillet, pour two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and take it to a medium heat.
- Now, in a separate bowl, whisk two eggs and season them with salt and pepper. Take them to the skillet and scramble them. Do not overcook them, remove a while before they are fully done. Once there, remove from the skillet and set them aside.
- Using the same skillet, pour some extra olive oil if necessary. And keep the heat to a medium.
- Peel and chop down an onion and do the same with the red bell pepper. Take both things to the skillet and season with some salt. Saute until the onion is translucent.
- Take the previously washed and sliced snow peas to the mix and fry everything together for no more than five minutes.
- Now, you’ll add the shrimps. Make sure they are peeled and deveined ahead. Stir and fry them for a while.
- Add the rice and stir everything together. Do not leave the skillet unattended as the mix is frying and it could easily burn. Stir almost continuously so that the rice heats up.
- Now, pour everything with some soy sauce and keep cooking for a couple of minutes.
- Turn the heat off and place the eggs you set aside before. Garnish with some extra soy sauce and the chopped green onion.
