This is elegant compared to other rice recipes, although it is just as easily slapped up and put together as any other. Jasmine rice is just fragrant enough to get your attention. While many other fried rice recipes contain meat or even prawns, the inclusion of delicate crabmeat here gives this dish a beautiful balance, so typical of Thai cooking. Enjoy it with a wheat beer.
Ingredients
- 7 oz/1 cup (200 g) jasmine rice
- 2 fl oz/¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 12 large raw prawns (shrimp) peeled and deveined tails intact
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon white sugar
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 3½ oz (100 g) fresh crabmeat shredded
- 2 fl oz/¼ cup (60 ml) light soy sauce
- 2 spring onions (scallions) thinly sliced
- lime cheeks, coriander (cilantro) leaves and sliced cucumber to serve
How to Make It
- Wash the rice in cold water and repeat until the water is no longer cloudy. (Washing the rice removes excess starch and any impurities.) Drain well, then place in a smallish saucepan with 375 ml (13 fl oz/1½ cups) cold water.
- Bring to the boil over high heat. When you see small bubbling pockets, reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 20 minutes. Tip the cooked rice into a bowl and leave to cool completely.
- Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil, swirling it around to coat the wok. Add the garlic and prawns and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until the prawns turn pink and the garlic is golden.
- Add the rice, white pepper and sugar and stir-fry for a couple of minutes to mix the garlicky oil through the rice.
- Push the rice to the side of the wok and pour the egg onto the lowest part of the wok. When the egg starts to firm around the edges, stir the egg into the rice. Add the crabmeat, soy sauce and spring onion and stir well. Serve hot, with lime cheeks, coriander and cucumber slices.
