Fried rice is not only the ideal comfort food but also one of the world’s most well-liked rice dishes. For the home cooks, fried rice is the best way of utilising leftovers in the fridge, the reason why fried rice was originally invented in China during the Sui dynasty around 589 to 618 AD, in eastern Jiangsu province called Yangzhou. This is where the original famous Yangchow (Yangzhou) fried rice was invented and it is the most commonly served fried rice in Chinese restaurants all over the world. For my gluten free recipe, I decided to use steamed brown rice with prawns, eggs, baby peas and spring onions, stirred fried with fish sauce and salt. This dish is not only gluten free, but soy free, dairy free, corn free and nut free as well.
There are many different types of fried rice in China and South East Asia. In China, the most popular are Yangchow (Yangzhou) fried rice and Hokkien (Fujian) fried rice. Cantonese fried rice is another common fried rice in China, it is normally served with a thick gravy drizzled on top of the rice. In Indonesia, the spicy and sweet Nasi Goreng, Nasi Goreng Kampung and egg fried rice are the most popular fried rice dishes for people on Halal diet. Sambal fried rice is found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, fried rice is stir-fried with a condiment made from chillies and belachan. There’s also a version of curry fried rice using curry powder for the hotter taste. Thai fried rice is another variation, normally cooked with jasmine rice and fish sauce. Another Thai style fried rice is the hot and spicy tom yum fried rice. There’s also a kimchi fried rice in Korea and omelette rice or nasi pattaya in Malaysian and Singapore, fried rice wrapped within an egg omelette drizzled with tomato sauce. In Japan omelette rice is called omurice. Check out my own variations of gluten free fried rice recipes, Special Fried Brown Rice (Yangchow Fried Rice), Seafood fried rice and Chicken Nasi Goreng Kampung.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 500 g fresh peeled large prawns deveined
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small French shallots diced into 1cm pieces
- 5 spring onions thinly sliced into 1cm lengthwise
- 350 g frozen baby peas
- 2 tablespoons pale or medium dry sherry
- 4 cups brown rice
- 2 tablespoons gluten free fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon of salt
For the Marinade:
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of pale or medium dry sherry
- ½ teaspoon of ground white pepper
For the Omelette:
- Extra virgin olive oil for pan frying
- 8 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
Instructions
- Wash the brown rice and cook in an electric rice cooker by adding number of cups of water specified by the electric cooker. Rice should be just cooked and not wet. Keep warm in the rice cooker.
- Combine prawns with marinade in a large bowl and mix well.
For the omelette:
- Crack all the eggs into a medium bowl, add the salt and ground white pepper. Beat all the eggs well with a fork.
- Heat up a medium non-stick frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil on medium to high heat. Add half of the beaten egg mixture into the frying pan, turn the heat to medium. Move the frying pan around to distribute the egg evenly, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottom of the omelette turn slight brown. Turn the omelette around and cook for roughly the same time. Remove omelette onto a plate. Covering the plate to keep warm. Repeat with remaining egg mixture by adding a bit more extra virgin olive oil.
For the Fried Brown Rice:
- Heat up a large wok with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, pan fry the prawns on medium heat for 2 minutes on each side or until prawns are just cooked. Remove from wok and set aside. Clean wok with kitchen paper towel.
- Heat up another 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and stir-fry the garlic and French shallots on low heat until lightly golden. Add the steamed brown rice in step 1, and the omelette into the wok, breaking up the omelette into smaller pieces. Toss and combine well until the rice is heated through on medium to high heat.
- Then add in the peas, spring onions, fish sauce, salt, pale or medium dry sherry and stir-fry for 2 minutes on medium to high heat.
- Lastly, return the prawns to the wok, toss and combine with the fried brown rice and serve.
