Phil's International Flair | Seasoned Cooking

Welcome to Seasoned Cooking and to Phil's International Flair!

This is one of my favorite fried rice recipes. Packed with flavor and goodness, this dish is sure to please everyone. You can use cocktail size shrimp for this recipe, but I prefer cutting the larger shrimp or prawns cut into chunks instead. I consider this dish a meal in itself; however you can certainly serve it as an entree with other courses as well.

Now, on to the recipe! Be well, and good eating!

Shrimp Fried Rice Many people seem to have a problem cooking rice without a rice cooker. I never measure my rice to water mixture, yet my rice comes out perfect every time. How do I do this? Simple. I fill a pot with some amount of water, it really doesn't matter how much as long as it's not half full, add salt and bring the water to a boil. Then, I add a few drops of sesame oil and add rice into the center of the pot until I form a peak that just reaches the top of the water level. I then allow the water to return to a boil, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. I turn off the heat after 20 minutes and allow the rice to rest until I am ready to use it, or at least for 5 to 10 minutes. Don't remove the cover until you are ready to use the rice! Once your rice is steamed, you can use it for any fried rice recipe or simply serve it as steamed rice.

1/3 lb. bacon, fried crisp and chopped (reserve the fat)
2 eggs, beaten, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
4 cups steamed short grain brown rice
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 lb. raw peeled shrimp or prawns, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp. Mirin (sweet rice wine, optional)
1/4 lb. fresh bean sprouts
2 green onions, diced
Several sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish (optional)

I start this dish by frying a few slices of bacon in a large skillet or wok. When the bacon is cooked until crisp, I remove it from the skillet, chop it up and set it aside, reserving the fat in a separate container. I then beat and season the eggs and fry them in the skillet turning once or twice. I then remove the fried eggs and chop them up for later use.

To the skillet, I then add the sesame oil and put the rice into the skillet to fry, turning constantly. Now, add the chopped bacon and soy sauce. Continue stirring until well blended, about 2 minutes. Now add the chopped egg and chopped shrimp. Continue stirring until the shrimp meat turns white and is no longer translucent in color, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the mirin if desired.

Finally, add the bean sprouts and chopped green onions, stirring constantly. Once the bean sprouts are warmed, the rice is ready to serve. Serve hot with other courses. Leftovers may be refrigerated for later use. Reheated shrimp fried rice makes a great breakfast instead of the normal cold cereal.

Yields: 4 servings
Preparation Time: 30 minutes