Pineapple, Coconut and Turmeric Fried Rice

The area where we live is dotted with many Thai and Italian eateries, which is why when we order take-out, it's usually pizza or stir-fried rice noodles. We just had Thai the other day, and we love the spicy basil rice noodles. As the kids do not take chilli, we ordered a pineapple fried rice for them (which was fortunately a large portion, so I had a share of it too). I'm usually a little wary of ordering pineapple fried rice as they are pretty bland most of the time, looking like plain fried rice. This one was not bad, with a hint of sweetness from the pineapple, with juicy raisins and crunchy roasted cashews. The rice had a lovely yellow tinge that made it more convincing to the eye and palette that it IS pineapple rice. Well, I did have some canned pineapple in the pantry, so I thought why not try making it at home, which is what I did two days later (after cooking some extra white rice the following night). I had already conjured up the idea of what to put in it, although I did forget to garnish it with pork floss (another one of those things sitting on my pantry shelf) as I originally intended to, just for the extra sweetness, flavour and texture. I also boiled down the pineapple juice (I used a 400g can of pineapples in unsweetened pineapple juice) and reduced it to a thick syrup before adding it to the rice.

Coconut Pineapple Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked jasmine rice, refrigerated

1 chicken breast fillet, thinly sliced

3 eggs, beaten and seasoned with soy sauce and pepper

2 tbsp butter

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2 tbsp dried shrimp, finely chopped and fried in oil for 2-3 minutes.

Handful of peas

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 cup pineapple pieces

1/2 cup pineapple juice, boiled and reduced to a syrup

1 tbsp sugar (or to taste)

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/4 cup dessicated coconut, toasted in pan till golden brown

1 tomato, halved and quartered

1/4 cup raw cashews, fried in oil till golden brown

Sliced red chilli, fried shallots, coriander leaves, pork floss (optional) for garnish

Wedge of lime/lemon

Vegetable oil, for frying

Marinade for chicken:

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp pineapple juice

1 tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Dash of pepper

Pinch of soda bicarbonate

1 tsp cornflour

Method:

1. Marinade the chicken for an hour, then fry in oil till cooked. Dish out and put aside.
2. Scramble the eggs in wok and cut up into small pieces, dish out and put aside.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter in a wok. Fry onions till softened, then add garlic, fry for half a minute. Add dried shrimp and peas.
4. Break up the rice with a fork and add to the wok and fry till well mixed. Add soy, fish sauce and the pineapple syrup and stir into the rice. Sprinkle turmeric over the rice and mix.
5. Mix in the chicken, eggs, pineapple, coconut and tomatoes. Season with salt and sugar. Toss in the cashews.
6. Transfer to a plate and garnish with coriander leaves, pork floss, fried shallots and sliced chilli, and a wedge of lime/lemon.