Shrimp Fried Rice

I used to like ordering take out (or delivery in my case) on Friday nights after a long week of work. Now, even though it takes a while to prepare, I like making my own versions of my favorites. This past Friday, I was in the mood for some rice. I actually had a whole menu planned with other things, but I went out the night before and was in no mood to prep a bunch of different recipes. Just one would be fine that night. I settled on Jaden's Shrimp Fried Rice which I found on Simply Recipes. I had an inkling I would be in the mood for this so I actually cooked the rice the night before. I prefer a drier rice so I did 1 cup of rice for 1 and 3/4 cup of water. Overall, this was a really simple and delicious recipe that didn't take to long to make. The only change I made was adding a little garlic to the mix because there are few foods (besides desserts) that I can eat without garlic. I am definitely going to be making this often.


Shrimp Fried Rice
(From Jaden Hair for Simply Recipes)

12 raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 stalks green onion, chopped
2 cups leftover rice
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil


In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add just 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

Add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the cooking surface area so that they are not overlapping. Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium, let the pan heat up again. Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the pan into the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use paper towels to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the garlic and green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok.

Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again. Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.