Shrimp Fried Rice with Brown Rice
Prep time: 10 - 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
This is not an attempt to make traditional fried rice.
This is a meal that my younger and more resourceful self created on a shoestring budget.
This is a simple dish that tastes great
Most of the ingredients are what I consider to be kitchen staples. Once you buy them for the first time you should be set for a while – unless you like to eat frozen peas for breakfast. If your kitchen is "stocked" then your shopping list is probably just shrimp, onion, carrot, ginger and scallions (aka green onions).
When buying your rice vinegar, make sure it isn't seasoned. Seasoned rice vinegar has salt and sugar added, which is a great shortcut when you are quick pickling something, but it is not what you want for this recipe. The only ingredient listed should be "rice vinegar diluted with water."
If you are on a budget, omit the shrimp and skip step two. Personally, I would skip the shrimp if I couldn't get wild caught raw shrimp. This is absolutely because of the fact that where I grew up you could buy fresh gulf shrimp for $3/pound from a guy on the side of the road. I will own that bias.
I usually make this dish with brown rice. If you use white rice it won't affect the recipe. And although the directions ask you to cook the rice ahead of time, you can go ahead and make the rice and then cook the dish. I would just recommend spreading the rice out on a pan or large plate to cool after cooking.
My cooking vessel of choice is a 10" pan with straight sides that are 2.5" to 3" high. Don't worry if you make a mess stirring everything around – I always make a bit of a mess with this one.
Servings/Suggestions
Two or three as an entree
If you are making this for three, use some more shrimp, add another egg, or both. If you do use more shrimp you may need to cook them in two batches.
Ingredients
2 cups short grain brown rice, uncooked
neutral Oil (vegetable or grapeseed)
0.5 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot or 12 baby carrots, 1/4 inch slices
1 inch ginger root, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2 cups frozen peas
2 eggs
sesame oil
1 tablespoon plus extra roasted sesame seeds for sprinkling
2 scallions, thinly sliced
sriracha
Mise en place
(Set yourself up for success before you start cooking)
Peel and deveine the shrimp. Click here and Gordon Ramsay will teach you.
Save the shells by putting them in a freezer-safe ziploc bag so that you can make a shrimp stock with them in the future.
Dice the onion
Peel and mince the ginger. The easiest way to peel the skin off of the ginger is to use a spoon. So use a spoon.
Mince the garlic (unless you are using a garlic press)
Slice the carrot(s)
Take the eggs out of the refrigerator
Slice the scallions
Directions
Step 1
Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to the instructions on the package. Do this the day before you plan to cook or early enough on the day of so that you can cool it in the fridge.
Step 2
Place the pan on the stove and turn on high heat. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp. If a half pound of shrimp doesn't fit in your pan, your pan won't be big enough for this recipe. (picture below)
Step 3
After 1 minute, add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and flip the shrimp over. After all shrimp have been flipped cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove the shrimp from the pan and let them rest on a plate. I recommend using kitchen tongs to flip the shrimp.
Step 4
Reduce heat to medium high and add a splash of oil to the pan. Add the onion and carrot. Cook until onions begins to caramelize (8-10 minutes). If you are using baby carrots just cut them into 1/4" slices. If you are using a large carrot, peel the carrot, trim the ends and cut it in half. Slice the thinner half into 1/4" slices. Quarter the large half and then slice into 1/4" slices (aka quarter moons).
Step 5
Add the ginger and the garlic. Stir well. The best way to peel the ginger is to use a spoon to scrape off the skin. Then smash, slice & mince the ginger into the smallest pieces you can. If you have a garlic press, press the garlic directly into the pan. If you don't, just do the same thing you did to the ginger.
Step 6
After 1 minute add another splash of oil and then add the rice. Stir throughly to combine the rice with the other ingredients. Let sit for 1 minute and stir again.
Step 7
After another minute, add fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and the remaining soy sauce. Stir well and scrape the bottom of the pan to pick up any brown bits off of the bottom of the pan. The brown bits are called fond and the processing of removing them from the bottom of the pan with liquid is called deglazing. Deglazing adds flavor and makes it easier to clean your pans after you are finished cooking.
Step 8
Add the peas. Stir frequently and cook until the peas are warm – roughly 2 minutes. Test by tasting a pea. If the pea is still cold, keep cooking.
Step 9
Push the rice to the sides so that you have made a well in the center. Add a splash of sesame oil and then crack the 2 eggs into the well. Stir thoroughly so that you incorporate the eggs into the rice. Wait 1 minute and stir again.
Step 10
After 1 more minute add the shrimp and 1 tablespoon of roasted sesame seeds. Stir well and remove from heat. If you want more shrimp in each bite, cut the shrimp into smaller pieces before adding the rice.
Step 11
Spoon the rice into bowls. Top with sliced scallions, more sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil. If you like it spicy, generously apply Sriracha over the top of the rice.
