Stir-fried Brown Rice

DAIRY-FREE / GLUTEN-FREE / QUICK DISH

Everyone loves stir-fried rice, but have you ever tried brown rice stir-fry? Definitely not conventional, but making stir-fried rice with brown rice is not only easier to succeed (particularly if you’ve struggled with the rice clumping together instead of free-flowing), it is also a wholesome, lighter and time-saving alternative.

Do you know the popular Chinese stir-fried rice is often made with leftover (white) rice? I know that might not sound very appetizing, but you need dried-out rice grains so they don’t clump together during stir-frying, and that’s not going to happen with freshly steamed rice full of moisture. If you’ve ever tried to make stir-fried rice with fresh rice, you know exactly what I mean. What if you don’t have leftover rice, and you don’t want to wait until next day? This is the situation I often find myself in, so I thought I’d give brown rice a try.

Steamed brown rice, even fresh out of the pot, are naturally firm, and the grains don’t stick to each other, making it ideal for stir-fried rice. Brown rice is also more filling than rice rice, so there is much less rice I need to prepare from the start.

I took photos of the stir-fried brown rice and shrimp the other day, but you can replace the shrimp with a little scrambled eggs, stir-fried vegetables or ground beef or pork to suit your own liking.

STIR-FRIED BROWN RICE

DAIRY-FREE / GLUTEN-FREE / QUICK DISH

MAKE 4 servings PREP 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups steamed brown rice (about 1.7 cups of raw 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, sauté half of the spring onion, add the shrimp, stir fry until the shrimp start to turn white, about 30 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 (white and opaque).
• 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, lightly scramble 4 eggs before adding the rice. Break up the scrambled eggs into small pieces while mixing with rice during stir frying.