Now that I am back into the swing of things, lets recap the weekends menu. Friday night's dinner was a recreation of my second favorite Thai dish, fried rice - sweet and sour tofu being my first. It still tastes delicious to me, but will never taste quite like it did in Thailand. Imagine this; waking up in the early morning to the warm sun shining through the slits in your bamboo hut. As you take your first morning stretch you smell ocean, sand and heaven. You slather on your sun screen while taking in the days rays on a small wooden fishing boat. Your boat is speeding across the ripples in the ocean, because you're on your way to the magnificent coral that surrounds Railay beach. You spend at least 6 hours snorkeling in the water - time has passed so quickly. The boat driver/tour guide hands you a hot plate, the most amazing fried rice and seafood you have ever tasted. You are so hungry because you haven't realized that the last meal was 6 hours ago. The excitement of snorkeling is too great to even think about food. This is how I remember Thai fried rice. So, you see how hard it is to recreate this experience.
Ingredients
1 cup dry jasmine rice
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 scallion
1 egg
3 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 pound jumbo shrimp
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1. Put one cup of dry rice and one cup of water in the rice cooker. Cook until done. Heat canola oil in a frying pan with garlic. Cook until garlic starts to turn light brown. Add the rice and fry for 15 minutes. Next, add the mixed vegetables (de-thawed), soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Once mixture is cooked, push to one side of the pan, and scramble an egg in the other side. Mix everything together and serve and sprinkle with chopped scallions.
2. To cook the shrimp, place shrimp, olive oil, and garlic in a frying pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Do not overcook or shrimp will become rubbery.
