Stir-fried Brown Rice with Shrimp

DAIRY-FREE / GLUTEN-FREE / QUICK DISH

Stir-fried brown rice is a wholesome, lighter and time-saving alternative to its white rice counterpart. Naturally firm and flowy, brown rice makes it a breeze to succeed with this favorite Chinese classic every time.

The classic Chinese stir-fried rice is usually made with leftover white rice. but what if you don’t have leftover rice and you don’t want to wait until next day? I came up with this recipe one day for exactly that. Speaking from experience, I knew if I used freshly steamed white rice, they would just turn into a soggy mess. Steamed brown rice on the other hand, even fresh out of the pot, are naturally firm and the grains don’t stick to each other. So I decided to give it a try, and it worked! I also found stir-frying brown rice didn’t need much cooking oil, while with the white rice, you need quite a bit to prevent the grains from sticking to each other. Plus, it is so much more filling, so I don’t need to cook a big pile of rice to feed everyone. So, there is every reason to spread the good word about brown rice stir-fry and share this recipe!

STIR-FRIED BROWN RICE WITH SHRIMP

DAIRY-FREE / GLUTEN-FREE / QUICK DISH

MAKE 4 servings PREP 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups steamed brown rice
• 1 cup thawed raw shrimps (peeled and de-vined)
• 2 spring onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• salt to taste

Method

• Heat a wok on high heat and add the oil when the wok is hot, followed by half of the spring onion and all the shrimp, stir fry until the shrimp start to turn pink, about 30 to 60 seconds.
• Add the rice, toss a few times, add soy sauce and continue to stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until the shrimps are cooked.
• Turn off the heat, sprinkle the other half of the spring onions, toss to mix.

Recipe Notes

• For a vegetarian version, leave out the shrimp, scramble 4 eggs before adding the rice. Break up the scrambled eggs into small pieces while mixing with rice during stir frying.

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So, you may ask, if brown rice is so perfect for making stir-fried rice, why do Chinese make it with white rice? Well, that has to do with the humble origin of this Chinese favorite. Despite its mouth-watering quality, stir-fried rice is basically a common way to revive leftover rice instead of tossing it out! Although leftover rice doesn’t taste great due to loss of moisture and texture, the drier grains are suitable for stir-frying. Since white rice is a staple in China, there is always plenty of leftover white rice, hence plenty stir-fried white rice!