Thai Shrimp Fried Rice

It has been really hot out here lately, so I was not very keen on cooking. Our dinners have so far consisted of mostly salads or chopped up watermelons. However, if cooking, Thai cuisine remains my summer favorite. The dishes are light, juicy and refreshing. When Mallugirl of Malabar Spices announced her Summer Express Cooking, this was the one that popped into my mind immediately. I just needed a little push to make it. Tomorrow, I was going down to Slovakia for my sister´s wedding last week, so it had been a fridge clear-up week. Trying to use up all the rice and veggie leftovers, I could not think of a better excuse for a simple fried rice and a carrot salad. That was a final push for making a great Thai meal - Shrimp fried rice and Som Tam Thai Salad.

Here is a detailed explanation of how to make both in less than 30 minutes, without stressing out too much or multi-tasking. There is only one think to be time-cautious about. Chopping, slicing and grating...

First, prepare ingredients for both, Som Tam Thai Salad and

THAI SHRIMP FRIED RICE:
(kao pad kapi)

spice ladder: **

prep time: under 30
serves: 1 couple

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 red Thai chili
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 cup cooked rice
• lime juice
• Vegetables and other leftovers*
• 3 carrots
• 1/2 cucumber
• iceberg salad leaves
• 150 g mushrooms
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 1 red chili
• salt, black pepper
  

* Note: The aim is to fry the rice in spices and then surround it with shredded fresh vegetables, omelets, seafood or meats. Traditionally, shredded green papaya and cucumber, chopped spring onion and snake beans, sliced tomatoes and onion, omelet stripes, shredded chicken or stir-fried shrimps are used, but you can use pretty much anything what your fridge offers. Here is what I used:


(Today, my fridge was smiling at me with fresh carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and cucumbers. Somewhere in the back, there were also a few leaves of iceberg salad.)

Timing of course varies according to the ingredients used, so I will stick with the one on the pic above:

1. Prepare the mushrooms (1 - 4 minutes)
Chop up the onion and chili. Keep aside a few slices of onion and fry the rest with the chilies on a tablespoon of oil. Meantime, slice the mushrooms, thinly. After three minutes, add the mushrooms to the onions and stir well. Add black pepper and salt, which will help the mushrooms release some water. Meantime:

2, Prepare the Som Tum Salad (5 - 15 minutes)
Wash and shred the carrots, place in a salad bowl and keep aside. Chop up the tomatoes, garlic and chilies. In a mortar, crush all the ingredients roughly following the recipe. Once ready, keep the salad mixture in the mortar, do not mix with the carrots. (This would make the carrots loose its juices and get all soggy with the salad mix).

2. Prepare the veggies for fried rice (16 - 23 minutes)
Check on the mushrooms, they should be ready by now. Take off the fire and let sit. Wash the vegetables and shred them finely (no need to peel, maybe carrot roughly). On a plate arrange piles of shredded vegetables and mushrooms.

3. Prepare the fried rice (24 - 29 minutes)
In a wok, heat up the oil. Saute the garlic and chilies for a minute. Add the shrimp paste and fry until the odor disappears (shrimp paste is made from dried fermented shrimps, so it s quite stinky when heated. Opening the windows helps a lot, though.) Add the fish sauce, sugar and water, each ingredient after 30 seconds. Add the rice and mix thoroughly, until all the grains are coated with the shrimp mixture.


















(This time I also added finely chopped fresh green beans when frying the rice.)

4. Final decoration minute
Place the fried rice in the middle of the plate and garnish with lime wedges and a few onion slices. Combine the shredded carrots with Som Tum mix and voilla! Thai feast in no time...

To eat, mix up all the veggies and rice until the original picture is completely spoiled. Sprinkle some lime juice on top. Additionally, I have some chili flakes on side as garnish.


















Half eaten dish... a prove of its tastiness ;-)
Mallu, enjoy!