For someone who couldn’t eat shrimps for decades, I’m sure glad that I finally overcame my allergy. If not, a pity that I would have to miss this delicious fried rice. It really is amazing. I surprised myself, in fact. Who knew that using a different set of seasonings would transform fried rice in such a huge way. The secret? Fresh shrimps and squid, and the best quality shrimp paste.
This is what we currently use at home. For three cups of rice, I used a heaping teaspoon of shrimp paste and it was enough to give the fried rice a delightful shrimpy taste and aroma. This is not a sponsored post — I’m just sharing the brand we trust.
To cook the fried rice, start by pouring beaten eggs in a lightly oiled wok or frying pan. Cook, stirring, just until set. Use your spatula to cut the mass into small pieces then scoop out the egg and set aside.
Drizzle in more oil into the wok or frying pan. Saute garlic, chopped shallot and bell pepper with that heaping teaspoon of shrimp paste. Wait until the bits of shallot turn translucent before proceeding to the next step.
Scatter your shrimps and squid over the sauteed vegetables, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Although shrimp paste is salty, we’re using a rather small amount of the stuff here, so salt and pepper are still necessary.
Why not just use more shrimp paste? Because both the flavor and aroma are strong, and too much can be overwhelming to the nose and the mouth.
Cook for about ten seconds without disturbing then turn up the heat and stir fry just until the shrimps turn pink and the pieces of squid begin to curl.
Spread the rice over the seafood and vegetables, and drizzle in seasoning. We use Knorr liquid seasoning (no, not a sponsored post) but soy sauce can be substituted.
Stir fry everything together. By the time the rice is heated through, the shrimps and squid should be fully cooked.
Take your scrambled eggs and add to the fried rice. Green peas are common in Chinese-style fried rice but shelled edamame is used here because my daughters are serious fans of edamame.
Toss everything together until the egg and edamame are heated through. Give your fried rice a taste, add more salt and pepper if necessary, then serve immediately.
Shrimp and squid fried rice
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil - divided
- 2 large eggs - beaten
- 1 shallot - peeled and chopped
- 1 bell pepper - peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and chopped
- 1 heaping teaspoon shrimp paste
- 250 grams shrimps - shelled and deveined
- 200 grams squid - cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups day-old rice
- 1 ½ tablespoons seasoning - Knorr liquid seasoning is recommended but soy sauce is okay too
- ½ cup shelled edamame
- torn cilantro - to garnish
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Pour in the beaten eggs and cook, stirring, just until set. Break into small pieces using your spatula then scoop out and move to a plate.
- Drizzle in the rest of the oil into the wok or pan.
- Saute the garlic, shallot, bell pepper and shrimp paste until the onion bits appear translucent.
- Spread the shrimps and squid over the vegetables, leave for ten seconds then turn up the heat and stir fry until the shrimps are pink and opaque.
- Spread the rice in the wok or frying pan and drizzle in the seasoning.
- Stir fry until the rice is heated through.
- Add the eggs and edamame and continue stir frying for another half a minute.
- Taste your shrimp and squid fried rice. Add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve at once.
