Pineapple fried rice is a dish that you can probably find on every single Thai restaurant menu. You get to pick your choice of meat or seafood. I had skinless chicken thighs available in my fridge so I decided to go with Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice, បាយឆាម្នាស់សាច់មាន់ (Bai Cha Manors Sach Mon). Diced ham or even cut up sausages would work too. Although I have never order this off of the menu I have however scoop up a couple spoonful from my friends’ plate when they do order them. This dish gives off many different flavors and textures. The savory from the chicken and rice, the sweet and sour from the cooked onions and pineapple, and the crunchy nuts if you choose to top it off. For this reason I personally would enjoy it as a meal on it’s own rather than having it accompany with other dishes . I would save that for plain steamy rice. Of course that is just me and the choice is yours.

Pineapple fried rice can be served many ways. The simplest form, on a rice plate. Kick it up a notched with some slices cucumbers and tomatoes on the sides or go all the way out and serve it on a pineapple boat or bowl. If you are using fresh pineapple why not save the shell for this? If not, canned pineapple chunks are great alternatives as well but be sure to drain the juices as much as you can. You can top it with cashews and some place also add raisin. It sounds as if the possibility are endless depending on who’s making and/or who’s eating.

For homemade restaurant style/quality fried rice check out my tested tips. It might take a bit of time and seems like a lot of steps but this is because home stove does not heat up as fast as those in restaurants so you have to allow ample time for each ingredients to get their share of heat. Rushing it will result in an overcrowded, soggy and mushy fried rice.

Thai Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice (makes 2 serving)
(Bai Cha Manors Sach Mon) បាយឆាម្នាស់សាច់មាន់

Ingredients
1 skinless chicken thigh, bone removed and cut into bite size
1 ½ tablespoon oyster sauce, divided
½ teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
½ tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 eggs
½ small onion, diced
¼ red bell pepper, diced
¼ red green pepper, diced
2 cups cooked rice, day old rice works best or allow freshly cooked rice to cool down in the fridge for several hours
1 cup diced pineapple
oil for frying
a handful of cilantro leaves

Method:
Marinade chicken with ½ tablespoon oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon soy sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar and set aside. Meanwhile you can prep the other ingredients while the meat is marinating.

Prepare seasoning by mixing the remainder oyster sauce, fish sauce and curry powder together. Set aside.

Heat a frying pan with oil and fry the 2 eggs until they set. Remove and set aside. No need to get them fully cook because you will add them back to the pan later.

Add chicken and stir fry until they are cook half way. Follow by diced onions, and bell peppers. Cook until chicken is fully cooked. Remove and set aside.

Continue on by stir frying the rice. Make sure to spread out the grains evenly. If not the steam from the heat will cause the rice to get mushy.

Once the rice grains starts to pop up (fried) return the chicken, diced onions, bell peppers. Add seasoning and stir fry quickly for about 1 minute.

Finally add pineapple and return the fried eggs and stir fry to combine.

Turn off the heat and throw in the cilantro leaves reserving some for garnish.

Serve any way you like – with or without cashews and raisins, on a plate or in a pineapple boat or bowl. ENJOY!

I’ve been bad lately; sleeping late and waking up late as well. This mean skipping what nutritionist calls the most important meal of the day-breakfast. When yesterday lunch time rolled around I just popped the fridge and put together what I had which resulted in this surprisingly yummy Pickled Mustard Green Fried Rice (Bai Cha Jruk Spey) បាយឆារជ្រុក់ស្ពី.

I had my share of mushy fried rice days until recently. After numerous trial and error and with some research online I was able to perfect my fried rice, IMHO. Here are my tested tips to homemade but  restaurant style/quality fried rice.

• Chill left-over rice in the refrigerator overnight.
  This will allow the liquid to dry up and the grains to hold it’s shape and not turn mushy when frying. The sauce and seasonings will liven it back up. The rice grains will absorb all the liquid making them flavorful in every bite.
• Fry ingredients separately.
  This will ensure that each item you lay on the pan get their share of “wok/pan time”. You want to be able to taste each of the flavors and not crowd them. Since all the ingredients will joined again at the end, you only have to cook it to about 80%.
• High heat is essential.
  Just be patient and allow the pan to heat up again before you start frying the next item.
• Try not to touch!
  Sometime we are tempted to start moving thing around fearing they might burn. Spread them out and use all the pan surface. Give them a chance to cook and crisp up then go at it. If you do too much digging and poking, you will end up breaking the rice grains releasing the starch which results in a mushy and sticky fried rice.

Ingredients
2.5 cups cooked rice
10 lil’ smokie, cut into cube
3 eggs, lightly beaten season with a dash of salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 hot red bird’s eye chili, chopped (optional)
2 stalks green onion, chopped
1 cup chopped pickled mustard greens

Seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Prepare seasoning and set aside.

Heat a pan til hot then toss in lil’ smokie. There is no need to add oil as the meat will draw out it’s own oil. For a nice and crunchy meat make sure to arrange them in a single layer on the pan. Do not touch it! Let it cook for about 1 minute on each side. Remove, leaving the fat behind, and set aside.

Wait a couple of seconds for the pan to heat up again and use the remainder oil in the pan to quickly fry the lightly beaten eggs. Separate them with a spatula.  Remove when it’s 80% cooked. The eggs should still be a bit watery.

In the same pan add garlic, chili, ¾ chopped green onions and do a quick stir fry until fragrant but carefully not to burn them. Next toss in chopped pickled mustard greens and spread them out.  Make a well in the middle (or move them to the side).

Add cooked rice (try to do it in a single layer so that the grains touch the bottom of the pan). Leave it alone for a couple of minutes before you start to stir them around. This will allow the rice to crisp up.

Pour seasoning all around and continue to stir fry to incorporate the flavors. You will notice that the rice grains barely stick to the pan. They are still plumped and not mushy. This is because you allow them “wok time”  ( a chance to touch the bottom on the pan/wok).

Finally return the lil’ smokie and fried eggs and mix them together one more time.

Dish out to serve and sprinkle with the remainder chopped green onion.  Enjoy this delicious creation of mine . I hope that my tips were helpful to you and that you enjoyed making and eating this as much as I did.

បាយឆារសាច់ក្រកនឹងេជីក្រហម (Bai Cha Sach Krok & Chee Krohorm) The warm weather is keeping me up late at night and up early in the morning.  Maybe it’s a sign for me to start eating what many consider the most important meal of the day, breakfast. I thought I would be able to skip lunch and just go directly to dinner since I already ate my Banana Nut Muffin and Coffee.  However by afternoon my tummy was growling. So with the left over rice and sausage from yesterday dinner, i fixed myself some sausage basil fried rice. Basil is my most favorite herb. I mentioned in my Chicken Lime Soup that this year I planted two varieties, and here they are. Both were used again in my Sausage Basil Fried Rice.

Sausage and Basil Fried Rice (makes 2 servings)
(Bai Cha Sach Krok Nung Chee Krohorm) បាយឆារសាច់ក្រកនិងជីក្រហម

Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion (both the green and white part), cut into 1/2 in
3 cups cooked white rice
2 eggs
1 cup sausage, dice (you can also use any other meat or seafood)
2 jalapenos, slice (optional)
½ onion, cut into bite size (optional)
1 cup fresh basil leaves,  (Thai or Italian or both)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Method:
In a pan, heat the oil in medium heat. When the oil is hot add garlic and green onion. Stir until the garlic is brown then add jalapeno slices and onion. Cook for several minute or until onion is a bit tender. Add the sausage.

Note: If using un-cook meat add it before  the vegetables as it takes longer to cook than vegetables.

Once the meat is is cooked, add in the rice and stir fry for about 3 minutes. Make sure to break up any clumps of rice and that the rice is well coated in oil.  Add the seasoning (sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce) and  continue to stir. Work quickly, if the rice starts to stick to the pan you can add a splash of stock or water.

Push the rice to one side of the pan. Crack 2 eggs into the empty side of the pan. As the eggs cook, use your spatula to break them up into small pieces.

Mix the eggs with the rice. Add in the basil and continue to stir-fry until the basil is wilted. Turn off the heat and serve hot.

Note: If basil leaves are big, you can easily tear it into pieces or roughly chop it.