Thai Fried Rice with Prawns and Hot and Sour Sauce

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Fragrant Jasmine rice fried with sweet prawns, scrambled egg, red onion and garlic, seasoned with palm sugar and fish sauce and finished with fresh, juicy tomatoes, crispy beansprouts, crushed peanuts and loads of fresh herbs and spring onions. Sublime served just like this, but take it to the next level by drizzling the fried rice with a spicy, hot and sour sauce.

When should I serve this dish?

Typically made using left over rice cooked the day before, in Thailand this light, fresh, wonderful dish is traditionally served for breakfast. However, if cornflakes are more your thing in the morning, serve it for lunch or supper. In my book, it works at any time of the day.

What can I use instead of prawns?

If you are making this over the Christmas period, it is a great way of using up any prawns you may have around. Alternatively, replace the prawns with some leftover turkey. It would work a treat! Salmon would work well too, as well as thinly sliced pork or chicken.

Use rice cooked the day before!

I made this dish using rice leftover after making Thai Red Pork Curry with Pineapple and Ginger, the day before. Although, truth be told, I adore fried rice, so I deliberately made some extra rice to ensure I had enough to knock this wonderful dish together. Fried rice is best made with rice cooked and cooled the day before before frying. The rice dries a little and hardens overnight; not only does this help it absorb the flavours and liquid in the fried rice, it also ensures the rice does not become soggy and lose its texture. As the rice is already cooked, this dish comes together remarkably quickly and easily. Perfect for a work night, when you are feeding a crowd or you simply want a quick fix delicious meal!

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is very slightly adapted from my favourite Thai Cookery book called ‘Spirit House’. The Spirit House is a renowned and award winning contemporary Asian restaurant and cookery school in Noosa, Queensland, Australia.

How to make Thai Fried Rice with Prawns and Hot and Sour Sauce

Collect all your ingredients together:

Hot and sour sauce:

• red chillis, stem removed and roughly chopped
• cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• fish sauce
• lime juice
• palm sugar

The fried rice:

• vegetable oil
• eggs, beaten
• red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• coriander stalks
• cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• green peeled prawns, deveined – chopped if large
• cold rice, ideally Jasmine, cooked the day before and stored in the fridge
• fish sauce
• palm sugar
• tomatoes, chopped
• beansprouts
• chopped coriander or Thai sweet basil, or a mix of the two

Garnishes:

• beansprouts
• chopped coriander or Thai sweet basil, or a mix of the two
• crushed peanuts, to taste
• spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

How to make this wonderful meal using leftover rice!

First, make the hot and sour sauce:

1. Blitz everything in a food processor until thoroughly combined and the chilli and garlic are finely chopped. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and chilli together, to make a paste. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

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Now make the fried rice:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over a moderate heat. Add the eggs, scramble until only just set, remove from the wok and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, blitz the onion, coriander stems and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Alternatively, chop finely by hand.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the wok and add the onion mix and the prawns. Stir fry over a medium heat until the prawns turn pink and the onion mix starts to soften, 1 – 2 minutes.
4. Add the rice, fish sauce and palm sugar and cook until everything is piping hot. A further 1 – 2 minutes.
5. Add the egg, tomatoes and beansprouts and cook for a further minute.
6. Finally, stir in the roughly chopped herbs.

Add the garnishes:

1.  Top with the beansprouts, chopped herbs, crushed peanuts and finely sliced spring onions.

Serve: 

1. Serve with the Hot and Sour Sauce on the side. Drizzle over to taste.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.