July 8, 2008

Pineapple Fried Rice : Main Course for AWED


I finally got around to making a vegetarian entry for AWED Chinese, not exactly vegetarian, but with eggs. I am happy the theme for this month is Chinese because I got the chance to explore a lot more recipes from the ever popular Chinese cuisine. This was a fun recipe to make with many of my favourite ingredients. The actual recipe had chicken and shrimp too as ingredients, but I made it AWED-ed by omitting those and keeping eggs. I really enjoyed this dish and it was our Sunday lunch. My lil one enjoyed picking out the green peas and pineapple whereas her dad cleaned out his share. The key is to fry the cooked rice without mashing it. Keep the ingredients ready so that they can be stir fried on high heat in quick succession. And when you do, you will have tasty Chinese food to enjoy! I am posting the modified recipe. (The actual recipe suggests using chicken and shrimp along with the eggs and veggies. It also mentions using a whole pineapple and then dicing its flesh). Do try this out when you would like a change from your daily menu. This way you can incorporate a lot of veggies into your main course without seeing grumpy faces. Enjoy!!

I am sending this to the AWED: Chinese (which includes - Sichuanese and Indo Chinese/ American Chinese versions) hosted by DK of Culinary Bazaar. The deadline is July 15, so hurry in your entries.



Recipe (Serves 2-3) :

Pineapple - 1 can (20 oz)
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp, divided
White pepper - a dash
Eggs - 1 medium, beaten
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp, divided
Cooked white rice - 3 cups
Light soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Button mushrooms - 1/2 cup
Frozen peas - 1/2 cup, thawed
Green onions - 2, chopped with tops

Method:

In a medium bowl, add 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper to the eggs.

Heat a wok until very hot.

Add a tablespoon of oil and tilt to coat the sides of the wok.

Add the eggs and cook until the eggs are thickened throughout, but still moist.

Remove the eggs from the wok and set aside.

Wash and dry the wok thoroughly.

Make sure all the ingredients are dry before cooking.

Reheat the wok until very hot.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil and tilt to coat the sides of the wok.

Add the rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat if the rice starts to burn.

Stir in the soy sauce and continue stirring until the rice is mixed well with the soy sauce.

Stir in the eggs, mushrooms, peas and the remaining salt.

Stir fry for 2 minutes or until the entire mixture is hot.

Stir in the pineapple and green onions.

Serve warm.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tips:

  1. I used canned pineapple rings (20 oz) and chopped it up.
  2. Basmati rice was used for making the fried rice.
  3. I added about 4 cups of rice for the given proportion of other ingredients.
  4. I chopped up a small carrot for a splash of color and stir-fried it along with green peas and mushrooms.
  5. The suggested serving in the book is to serve the fried rice in a pineapple shell.


Once again I would like to mention two awards that I received yesterday. Trupti of Recipe Center passed me the "Yum-Yum Blog" award and Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner passed me the "Friendship" award. I would like to pass these awards on to,




Sujatha of Spicy Khazana
Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Vandana Rajesh of Cooking up something nice
Easy Crafts of Simple Indian Cooking


Enjoy your awards and I hope you all enjoyed the post.

UPDATE: I am sending this to "Rice Mela" hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.

19 comments:

EC said...

Congrats on the awards and thanks for passing on to me

FH said...

YUMMY! I love the pineapple flavor in everything.Great entry JZ, beautiful looking dish.Don't you love the Pizza with Ham and Pineapple? Slurp!:D
Last post tomorrow from me. I will miss you and your posts. Do keep in touch when you can!:)
We have major plans for home improvements this summer we have been putting it off, got to take care of them all. Will be very busy after that short vacation.

Laavanya said...

JZ, that fried rice is so tantalizing.. i love to bite into pineapple bits, be it on pizza or fried rice - thanks for a vegetarian version of this favorite. Bookmarked to try! :)

Congrats on your awards and a BIG thank you for the friendship award - makes me so very happy.

vandana rajesh said...

Congrats jz on the awards...yet another yummy recipe from you. Thks for passing the awards to me.

Have known u only thru the blog but feels like have known you for long and the internet definitely makes distances non-existent.
Thks for sharing this wonderful recipe.Trying your crescent roll recipe today will get back with the results. :)

Cham said...

Ha ha , meaty girl! Just kidding... Finally u tweaked to find something veg (me too- it was hard to remove all the fish sauce, etc,,, i had the pineapple rice with chicken or ham into ... Look fantastic!

ranji said...

awesome JZ...i never tried adding pineaple to fried rice..this one sounds goooood...i do the same way except i omit the addition of soy sauce..i do add scrambled eggs on top..and it tastes heavnely....will add pineapple next time:)..congrats on ur awards..

Srikitchen said...

yummy recipe JZ! using pineapple in friesd rice... eally a new concept... as usual lovely pics.. well done! which is ur native

Trupti said...

Congrats on awards JZ. Using Pineapple in fried rice is very innovative. Rice must be tasted heavnly gooood.

Unknown said...

Wow JZ, thats a good idea to the regular fried rice, pineapple adds a delicate flavor for the fried rice, thanks for the tips mentioned in your write up. I made gobi manchuri yesterday and also added brocolli, got some tips from ranji too:) I make pulav, biriyani, fried rice a lot of times, your twist is good, i will also add pineapple :)

Chef Jeena said...

What a beautifully presented fried rice recipe. This looks amazingly tasty JZ!

TBC said...

I like the sweet touch that the pineapple lends to the otherwise plain fried rice prepn.

DK said...

JZ - U kill me - seriously! It kills me to realise that I cannot take that plate of heaven and eat it - but have to force myself to jus sit in front of the comp and drool! What better word can i think of more than fantabulous??? Oh well thats pretty much my vocabulory - cos ur presentation needs more words of praise. I am honoured to display this one in my AWED round up. :) :)

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow .. that looks sooo colorful n tempting ..

Divya Kudua said...

yummy fried rice jz..adding pineapple to the rice is such a great idea..i love the flavor that pineapple imparts to anything its put in!!great entry..lovely presentation too!!!

Illatharasi said...

Wow, I have tasted this in restaurant and never tried to make it at home.... now I know the recipe;) I will try :)

Sunshinemom said...

Congrats on the awards! Great entry and a lovely dish to drool on!

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks EC, Asha and Laavanya! Asha I sure will miss you too!! Laavanya, its my pleasure to pass on the friendship award to you!!

Thanks a lot Vandana, Cham adnd Ranji! Vandana, I hope your rolls would turn out yummy and beautiful!!

Thanks Srilekha, Trupti and Roopa!! It sure was delicious! Srilekha, I am from Kerala.

Thanks Jeena and TBC! :-)

Wow, thanks a lot for your enthusiastic reply DK! I am really glad that you liked my entry and am honored to know that you would be proud to include mine in ur roundup! :-)

Thanks VP, Divya, Illatharasi and Sunshinemom!! :-)Vani, get back to me, if u have any questions!

Dori said...

Pineapple fried rice sounds so yummy! It looks really pretty too, I could eat it all up! Congratulations on your awards!

Pooja said...

rice looks so tempting JZ :)