Thai Pineapple Fried Rice (Khao Phad Saparod) is a one-wok crowd-pleaser that boasts a plethora of flavours and textures ranging from sweet, savoury, spicy, crunchy to fluffy! Make this to impress your friends today!
Wash 3 cups rice and add 3 - 3.5 cups of water to cook the rice. The rice should be cooked one day before and left in the fridge overnight.
Deshell and devein the prawns and wash and pat dry (see video demonstration here). Marinate the prawn with a little egg white, salt and a dash of pepper.
Cut the pineapple into half lengthwise, while leave the full stalk of leaves intact. Then use a knife and make a deep cut around the perimeter of the pineapple without cutting through to the bottom. Make sure to slant your knife inwards to follow the shape of the pineapple.
Cut across the pineapple into 5-6 sections. Use a spoon to scoop out the slices of pineapple and transfer to a plate.
Make sure to scoop out all the flesh from the pineapple boat. Drain and pat dry and set aside for later use.
Remove the 'eye's of the pineapple as well as the hard core and discard. Then cut the pineapple into smaller cubes or triangles.
Crack the eggs and beat them lightly. Next, add a pinch of salt and set aside.
Toast the cashew nuts in the toaster for a few minutes until golden brown, then take them out to cool. Once completely cooled, store in an air tight jar.
Remove the skin from the garlic and chop it coarsely.
Remove the skin from the onion and cut it into small squares.
Mix all the spices in a bowl and set aside.
(Optional) Wash the spring onion, chilli and parsley and cut into small pieces.
(Optional) Cut off both ends of the cucumber and using the cut portion to rub against the both ends until the white color substance oozes out. Wash the cucumber and cut into slices cross-sectionally. Chill in the fridge until serving time.
COOKING METHOD FOR THAI PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE (20 Min)
In a wok, add 1 TBsp of oil and heat up over medium high heat. Add in the prawns and stir fry for a few seconds until just cooked. Remove and transfer to a plate.
In the same wok, add 1/2 TBsp more oil. Add in chopped garlic and cubed onions and fry till aromatic.
Push onions and garlic to the side of the wok and add 1 TBsp of oil. Pour the eggs in and fry till half cooked. Quickly add the cooked rice over the egg, onions and garlic, and toss well.
Pour the spices over the rice and mix well.
Add in 1 1/2 TBsp fish sauce and 1/2 tsp salt and mix well.
Next, add in the pineapple cubes, prawns and half of the cashew nuts to the rice mixture and mix well. Continue to cook until the pineapple turns a bit darker coloured and the rice grains separate. If the rice is too dry, a little water can be added to it.
Lastly add in the spring onion and turn off the heat and toss to mix well (optional). Taste and adjust the salt level according to your preference.
Transfer the pineapple rice into the boat. Garnish it with pork floss, remaining cashew nuts, parsley, spring onion and red cut chilli. Serve with chilled cucumber (optional)
Notes
RICE TIPS
Cook the rice the day before or it will be sticky. In fact all kinds of fried rice, be it Chinese or Thai, must have overnight cooked rice in order to achieve the perfect grainy and shiny look.
Before frying the rice, wet your hands first and break up the lumpy rice. Otherwise the rice will be lumpy after being fried.
When frying the rice, use a scooping motion to get under the rice, and then flip it over to avoid breaking up the rice grains.
PINEAPPLE TIPS
Buy ripe pineapple to give the rice a sweet and tangy fragrant.
Do not cook the pineapple for too long as it will turn watery causing the rice to be too soggy at the end of it.
Ensure that the pineapple boat is dry otherwise the rice gets soaked up in the juices and becomes too soggy.
Do not discard the juices and the remainder of the pineapple. You can add some water to cook pineapple together with the juice and add a little sugar to it and there you have a pineapple drink that goes well with the pineapple rice.
COOKING TIPS
Be careful not overcook the prawns so that it will be tender and moist.
The egg should be half cookedbefore adding the rice so that the rice grain gets coated wth the egg during frying. That give the rice a very nice eggy taste.
Use Red Onion because it has a spicy flavor whereas yellow onion tends to be on the sweet side.
ADJUSTMENTS
You can replace the prawns with chicken breast or you can use both.
You can also use canned pineapple instead of fresh pineapple but they are super sweet. You should wash and pat dry the pineapple to reduce the sweetness as well as the water content in it.
You can also replace the pork floss with fish or chicken floss.