Pineapple fried rice is a more flavorful alternative to the traditional fried rice. By adding pineapple, the rice becomes more of a fruity, light flavor, instead of plain rice. For those looking for more of a simpler dish, you can simply make the dish without using the pineapple half. Adding in raisons also helps with the sweetness factor. In order to make the dish not too sweet, you can add some form of meat, either chicken, shrimp, beef or any meat of your preference. Make sure you cook the meat prior to adding it into the rice.
Ingredients:
Pineapple (1 whole, for serving and cooking)
Jasmine Rice (4 cups)
Tara Levy/ Student Life Editor
Vegetable Oil (3 tbs)
Egg (1)
Small Onion (1)
Garlic (5 cloves)
Fresh Ginger (1 tbs)
Chinese long beans (1 cup blanched)
Diced tomatoes (½ cup seeded)
Thai fish sauce (3 tbs)
Sugar (1 tsp)
Green Onions (3)
Raisins
Shrimp (optional)
Salt and pepper
Description:
For appearance, slice the pineapple in half, making sure the leafy stem is still attached. Hollow out each half, keeping the pineapple for the rice mixture.
Heat 2 tbs of the oil in a wok or large skillet, coating the whole pan in oil.
Add in the onion and stir until a soft, golden brown. Add the garlic and continue to stir until soft. From there, add the ginger and stir for another minute.
Cook the rice prior until tender, but not soft.
Add the rest of the oil into the wok or skillet and add the rice. Fry together for approximately two to three minutes over high heat.
Add the beans, tomatoes and pineapple. Fry together all these ingredients for two to three minutes more.
In a separate skillet, cook the egg until scrambled to liking. Add the egg into the rice with the rest of the mixture. Also, in a separate skillet, if you would like to add a meat, cook prefered meat until done, then add into the rice mixture and continue to stir. For this particular recipe, I added shrimp.
Toss in the fish sauce and the sugar with the rest of the rice for roughly five minutes. Then, add the green onions into the mixture, continuing to stir. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the rice from the wok or skillet and transfer into the carved out pineapple half. For garnishing purposes, you can add some tiny chunks of pineapple on top.
Serves: 4 to 6 people
