Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

small pineapple, courtesty Josch13, pixabay.com

Oh, the elegant, beautiful, and delicious Pineapple!

Here is a new recipe (that's sort of a mixture of recipes) that I tried out that was a  hit and tons of fun. It's another Thai based dish, so be sure and do all your prep ahead of time because once you begin, this goes fast.

As many of you know by now, I love spices and sauces and think that certain ones are just outstanding. I am always learning more. As my understanding and use of these expands, I try to name important or essential ones I use in my own recipes. I have listed the ones I used for this dish below in the ingredients.

Note: the recipe below is a big one, good for eight people and great for entertaining, but it doesn't reheat again well, so reduce the size to 1/4th if it's just for two.


Recipe

Ingredients:

10 ounces or large handful of uncooked, peeled raw shrimp –bite size–  or, if like me, you like jumbo shrimp, just cut up (each piece into three) for bite size pieces ahead of cooking

1-1/2 cups of cut pineapple 

2-3 Tbsps grapeseed oil (superior cooking oil)

3-4 cups precooked and refrigerated (24-48 hours) plain Jasmine Rice

Add and mix together:

3 Tbsps soy sauce ( I use gluten free low sodium)

1 Tbsp Red Boat Fish Sauce
(ONLY use Premium Fish Sauce)
(I use different brand Premium Fish Sauces for different dishes. This one is very good in this dish and available at Kroger's and Whole Foods)

2 tsps curry powder (Morton and Bassett is awesome - if you can find it,  keep it with your choices spices! I swear this spice makes this dish unbelievable!)

salt and black and white pepper and a tsp. sugar

Set Aside:

1-3 long sliced Thai peppers and seeds (include seeds with these peppers only)

1-3 Fresno Peppers* (optional) (cut up into thin pieces or chopped small)
(Important Note: Remove Seeds! They will make you choke!)
(*Can substitute with cherry chilis or 1/4 red bell pepper)  (NO seeds with any of these peppers!)

1/4 cup chicken stock or less as needed while cooking

fresh lime zest (1/2 lime)

fresh lime juice (1/2 lime)

1 egg (room temperature)

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/3 cup raw whole cashews

salt and black and white pepper


Cut and Prepare and Mix Together:

1-3 grated or julienned carrots

 plus

1-2 cups of assorted small cut vegetables (I used a combination of scizzor-cut fresh snow peas and sweet peas with stick-cut mushrooms and cilantro and added some of my julienned vegetables* in too.  (*see labels)  Whatever is in the fridge can work, some people add in frozen peas, but I like fresh whenever possible.

For Garnish:

Serve with extra Cut Cilantro and Soy Sauce

Prep

1.  Place shrimp (if frozen) in cold water bowl to defrost, then cut into bite size pieces
(or, if fresh, rinse, cut if necessary, and set aside)

2.  Run fingers through cooked rice to unclump with a little drizzle of grapeseed oil - set aside.

3.  Cut Pineapple into pieces and set aside

4.  Cut or Julianne fresh combined-vegetables (as described above)

5.  Assemble other ingredients separately (as described above)

Directions

1.  In wok or large frying pan heat grapeseed oil with liberal salt and black and white pepper at medium high, stir in cashews, turning quickly until light brown - remove with a screened or slotted spoon and set aside on separate plate (can place paper towels on plate to drain)

2.  In same pan, add Thai peppers and Fresno and red peppers stir and press until fragrant but do not burn (about 1 minute), remove with screened or slotted spoon set aside on separate plate.

3.  Add shrimp to the pan and cook until pink and push to side

4.  Crack egg into pan and scramble and push to side of pan

5.  Add vegetable mix to pan and continue quickly stir-frying (the little cut pieces will cook fast) –add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan as needed to keep from sticking or a little chicken stock 1 Tbsp. at a time.

6.  Now add in rice, pineapple chunks, lime zest, and lime juice and return the cashews and cooked peppers to dish and stir egg back in from side, stirring quickly (Note: don't use chicken stock in at this point, after rice is added, or it will become soft. If needed, add a little more grapeseed oil.) Add in bean sprouts.

7.  Add sauce mixture stirring quickly.

Check dish and, if wanted, add extra salt and black pepper to taste

Serve Immediately with Cilantro Garnish and Soy Sauce on Table

For Fun: Serve in Cut Out Pineapple Shells!

Enjoy!

-bbffair

My Tom Yum(m) Soup - Very Spicy

Tom Yum(m) Soup

Where have I been? You guessed it! On an adventure into Thai cooking!

OMG! I LOVE Thai food! And now I have  just a few beautiful recipes to share that I have made my own.

For today, here is my Tom Yum(m) Soup! The picture on this post is of my lunch. Isn't it beautiful!

I make it extra, extra hot and spicy!


Okay, here goes:

My Tom Yum(m) Soup

Ingredients List:

6-8 cups (1-1/2 to 2 boxes ) Chicken Stock (Organic Pacifica brand is very good)

2 stalks of lemon grass

Zest of 1 medium lime
       (Note: Some recipes call for Tafir (lime) leaves. They are hard to find for me right now, but lime zest works great as a substitute.)

5-6 red Thai chili peppers (wear gloves for handling these -they WILL burn you or your eyes!)
      Take off stems and slice lengthwise into 2 or 4 strips and then chop and put aside, keep seeds for cooking too

2-3 tiny fresh red cherry peppers (the size of a cherry tomato) (do not use these seeds - they might make you cough) -or 1/4-1/5 of a fresh red bell pepper - sliced thin

Generous handful of Shitake  mushrooms (can be substituted with brown mushrooms) sliced thin

1 lb. package of frozen large raw peeled and devined shrimp (thawed in cold water while you prep recipe)
      (or fresh raw peeled and devined large shrimp)

Juice of medium lime

1/3 cup fresh cilantro

1-3 T. of high quality fish sauce

Broccoli - one large stalk chop up the stem into thin pieces and also the flowers into little pieces

1-4 short dollops of Chili sauce* (I use Sriraja Paniich or Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Sauce)
(*Note: I like this better than regular garlic which I don't really like to handle and find it integrates very nicely and doesn't "stand out" if you know what I mean.)

1/2 package of ripe fresh cherry tomatoes
 
 ~~

Prep:

Prepare all the ingredients as directed above and in step 2 below before beginning.

~~

Directions:

1.  Pour chicken stock into a pan and bring to boil.

2.  Cut off the bulb and any brown tops of the lemongrass and peel the outer layers. Chop the good (edible) white portion of the lemongrass into tiny pieces. Cut the upper stems in 3-4 places slightly (not all the way through) and then bruise (hammer and bend) and add the pieces and the bruised stems into the now boiling chicken broth for about 2 minutes

3.  Add the garlic sauce dollops to taste (I use 4 good ones). Add the cut up Thai peppers and seeds, the red peppers, lime zest, and mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium-simmer for 2 minutes.

4.  Add shrimp and broccoli and simmer medium for 4 minutes until shrimp is pink and done.

5.  Reduce heat to med-low. Add fish sauce, juice from one whole medium lime, and tomatoes.
Can cover, if desired. Cook about 3 minutes. Stir well -gently simmer.

(Usually this is about perfect for my tastes. But test it for yourself. If too salty, add more lime juice. If too sour, add 1/4 t. sugar. Not spicy enough for your taste, maybe another dollop of chili sauce will take it there!)


*Options:   1/4 t.  sea salt
                  1/4 t.  sugar
                  1/2 can evaporated milk or coconut milk

(Note: I don't add milk to mine or sugar)


6.  Remove lemongrass stalks and discard. (They add flavor to the soup but are not edible like the chopped parts.)

7.  Serve with fresh cilantro and/or Thai chili sauce.

~~

As you can see above, I make mine VERY spicy! I swear by this soup! It will clean you up, clean you out, make your eyes water, wash out your sinuses, possibly helps prevent cancer (yes. really! see this link!), and fill you up, satisfy your hunger and appetite, and for almost no calories.  Let me repeat: almost NO CALORIES!

My recipe comes to about 78 calories a cup or 155 calories for a 2-cup serving.

For a more traditional recipe with coconut milk where I got my inspiration (I don't like coconut and like mine spicier.):  http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/tomyumkung.htm

1-2 cups equals a very nice serving. I save the extra soup right in a sauce pan and reheat it and have lunch for three or four  days.

It is grrreeat for detoxing and dieting as well as hot Thai taste and great nutrition!

Enjoy!

-bbffair