Shrimp Fried Rice

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Towards the end of Lent, I generally run out of ideas for meatless meals, so, I was delighted when I came across a new fried rice recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. I have a real fondness for this dish and will even have it for breakfast if I have leftovers in the house. My standard recipe for it can be found here and it is outstanding. I've made it for years and it is the gold standard against which I judge all other recipes for this Asian-inspired staple. The Bon Appetit version interested me because it contains shrimp and that made it more acceptable to the Silver Fox who has no great love for vegetarian entrees. He actually liked this version and a "like" coming from him, is a rave review when a dish contains no meat. I thought it was passably good and certainly worthy of sharing with you. There are two tricks to a good fired rice. The first is to use day old rice that has been refrigerated for a day or more. This gives the rice time to dry out and loosen. I think you'd agree that no one likes clumpy fried rice and I guarantee that freshly made rice will clump. The second is to keep the vegetables that are added to the rice crisp-tender. A good dash of Asian sesame oil won't do any harm either. This is a very simple dish to make and execute. If you are looking for recipes to extend your repertoire of dishes for Meatless Mondays or Lenten Fridays, do give this recipe a try. Here is how the shrimp fried rice is made.

Shrimp Fried Rice...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
12 ounces peeled deveined small shrimp, thawed if frozen
Kosher salt
8 scallions, whites chopped, greens thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
3 cups cold cooked white rice
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
1/2 cup frozen edamame, thawed
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Directions:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season shrimp with salt and cook, turning once, until just opaque in the center, about 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.
2) Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in same skillet. Add scallion whites, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add rice and stir to coat. Cook until rice is crisp, about 2 minutes. Push rice to one side of skillet and add eggs to other side and cook, stirring and working into rice mixture, 1 to 2 minutes.
3) Add edamame, peas, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and cooked shrimp. Cook, tossing constantly, until shrimp and vegetables are heated through, about 1 minute. Top with scallion greens. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.








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