Thai Fried Rice

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

I promised I would share how to convert the Thai Stir Fry into Fried Rice. You have probably eaten Chinese style Fried Rice before, which tends to be on the mild side. If you prefer a less tame version, Thai style Fried Rice may be more to your liking. Thai tends to lend itself to hotter versions and incorporates some type of peppers, often Thai Chili peppers, into the recipe. It combines the umami of Chinese with the heat and citrus of Thai cuisine making for a wonderful combination of flavors.

It is best t prepare the rice, or a substitute for it, far enough in advance that it can cool and go into the refrigerator long enough to come to refrigerator temperature. The easiest way is to have leftover rice or prepare it the night before. This keeps the rice from sticking to the pan the grains from breaking down.

Ingredient:

· I pound of chicken breast cut into 1-inch cubes

· 1 large or 2 medium yellow onion, quartered and cut into ¼ inch slices

· 2 pounds of Asparagus

· 1 8 oz. can of sliced water chestnuts

· 1 and ½ cups of sliced Shitake or White mushrooms

· ½ cup of celery cut in ½ inch slices

· 4 eggs

· 3 fresh plum tomatoes, 2 should be cut into 4 wedges each and the other into 8 wedges

· 8 cups of cooked rice

· 4 tbsp of cooking oil

· Sesame Oil to taste

· 1 tbsp. of minced garlic

· 1 tbsp. of minced ginger root

· 1 and ½ tbsp. of Fish Sauce

· 1 and ½ tbsp. of Oyster Sauce

· 2 tsp. of Lime Juice

· ½ tsp. of sugar

· ½ tsp. of Garlic Chili Paste (optional)

The Sauce

Mix the Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Lime Juice, sugar and Chili Paste, if you want a bit of heat, in a small bowl. This will be used at the end but I recommend having it ready before hand. As is always the case in stir fry style cooking, you will need to lift and stir the ingredients very often while they are cooking.

Cooking

Beat the eggs in a bowl, add some sesame oil to taste and keep them in reserve

Put your wok or large frying pan on a highest heat setting.

Add 2 tbsp of oil, allow it to heat up and add the chicken breast, cook it for 2 minutes

Remove the chicken breast from the pan and set it aside in a bowl

Add the remaining oil

Cook the onions for one minute and add ½ of the minced garlic and ginger

After 30 seconds add the asparagus and celery, cook them for 1 minute

Add the water chestnuts and mushrooms, cook for one minute

Transfer all the ingredients to the bowl with the cooked chicken

Lower the heat and wait a couple of minutes to reduce the temperature of the pan

Add the eggs to the pan, allow them to set a bit, stir them gently, allow to set again. You want the eggs to cook but in such a way that they are like small pieces of omelet or large pieces of scrambled egg.

Once cooked, transfer to the bowl with the other ingredients

Add the rice to the pan and stir while it heating it up

Add the reserved ingredients to the pan and combine with the rice

Mix the sauce again and pour it on top of the other ingredients and the 2 tomatoes you quartered

Stir everything together for 1 minute to warm and combine all the ingredients

Transfer to a serving dish or platter and garnish with the 8 small wedges of tomato. You can also garnish with cucumber slices and basil leaves

Your palate will dance with delight as the variety of flavors hit your taste buds. The heartiness of the mushrooms, onions, garlic, and ginger combine with the umami of the sauce, which also has citrus notes from the lime and a fieriness or mild bite from the garlic chile sauce, depending on how much you choose to add. The meatiness of the mushrooms and the crunchiness of the water chestnuts give a great contrast of textures.

Variations

Like the simple stir fry, the same changes can be made to create several variations of this fried rice. They are as follows:

For a milder dish you can leave the Chili Paste out

Use shrimp instead of chicken breast or you can use both

You can use zucchini in place of the asparagus. Broccoli can also be substituted but it may overwhelm the subtle flavor of the shrimp. If you go this way, cook the broccoli for another minute or two to bring out more of its sweetness and a less potent flavor in the dish.

Some like it hot – double the Garlic Chili Paste to a 1 tsp. or more depending on how fiery you like it. I recommend adding 1 tsp at a time and check the level of heat.

For a more herbal flavor add fresh basil and you will have Thai Basil Fried Rice.

Quinoa is a healthy change up for the rice and adds a nutty tone to the dish. If you want to go all out healthy, riced cauliflower is ideal. It will add sweetness and make it not sit as heavily on your stomach.

There are other styles of Thai Fried Rice, but this method recipe gives you the basics for the other styles such as Golden Field and Red Thai Fried Rice. If you look up these other recipes, you will find that much of what I have shown you here will be incorporated into these other recipes. I hope this gives you inspiration to try this dish and investigate other styles of Fried Rice from the Thai cuisine.