Ginger & Spice: Pineapple not so fried rice!

Fried rice is made in many countries and it certainly varies from place to place. A Chinese egg fried rice is more oily for example than fried rice in Thailand which is usually more spicy, and both are different from fried rice found here in Indonesia. In fact even within Indonesia you will find different types of fried rice depending which island you are visiting or what region the chef comes from who is making it. It is a real staple in the Indonesian diet and I particularly love Balinese fried rice (or nasi goreng as we call it here) which has lemongrass in the paste.

Jam-packed full of lots of fresh veggies.

Fried rice is a great comfort food and in our household we eat it probably at least once a week as I can pack it full of vegetables and make sure that my husband is getting his veggie quota for the day or even week! I know when you hear the words "fried rice" you think of something greasy and unhealthy, but I can assure you if it was either of those I would not be a fan. My version uses so little oil I probably shouldn't even call it fried. You would put more oil in one serving of salad dressing than is used to make this fried rice to feed four people. The secret is a good non-stick wok or large frying pan!

Pokcoy, beansprouts, grated carrot and sugar snaps.

I love cooking with fruit and I love finding savory recipes to add fruit to, so this week I thought I'd make a pineapple fried rice. I told my husband this and he thought it was a ridiculous idea and would be horrible, but he was wrong, it was fantastic. There were plenty of other vegetables in it but the pineapple worked so well and my husband even went back for seconds! Please give it a go. With or without the pineapple it is still delicious. You can use almost any vegetables (I have tried cooking with nearly every vegetable in fried rice at some pooint), though in the recipe below I have used the vegetables that I think work best together. This is a really easy recipe. More time is spent preparing all the chopped vegetables than actually cooking the rice. I do all the preparation first and the actual cooking takes just a little over five minutes!

Ingredients

For the paste:
Shallots (2-3 small ones)
One red chilli
Tomatoes deseeded (3-4 large ones)
Garlic (2-3 cloves)
One stick of lemongrass ( cut off the woody end)
2 tbsps Kecap manis (sweet thick soy sauce)

For the fried rice:
1tbsp of vegetable oil
2 eggs (whicked and seasoned)
Half an onion diced
One or two cloves of garlic minced
A cup of diced peppers (I use a mix of red, yellow and green peppers)
Half a cup of diced courgette
Half a cup of pokcoy chopped
Half a cup of beansprouts
Half a cup of grated carrot
Half a cup of sugar snaps
Half a cup of chopped pineapple
2-3tbsps of the paste above
3 cups of cooled cooked rice (ideally cooked the day before and kept in the fridge overnight)

Scrambled egg.

Chopped courgette.

Colorful juicy peppers.

Chopped fresh pineapple.

Method

Blend all the ingredients for the paste together in a small food processor or with a stick blender. Set aside to use later. If you make extra it can be stored for about a week in a sealed container in the fridge.

In a good large non-stick wok or frying pan heat a small amount of the oil and then scramble the eggs. Once these are done remove from the pan and set aside. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and once hot add the onion, garlic, peppers and courgette and stir fry until tender. Then reduce the heat to medium and add the rice and heat through making sure there are no big lumps of rice. Add 2-3tbsps of the paste and mix so the paste rubs onto the grains of rice, coating it and making it brown on the outside. Keep stirring until all the rice is coated. Then add all the pokcoy, carrot, beansprouts, sugar snaps and pineapple. Don't stir constantly, just every 20 seconds or so. Once all the vegetables are tender add the egg back into the pan and mix and heat it through. I don't cook with salt usually, but if you do this would be the time to taste and season. (I usually add some freshly ground black pepper on my plate). Once everything is hot and tender it is done.