The Cooking Ninja

Pineapple - a good source of manganese, rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin B1, exotic in fragrance and tangy in taste - my family's favourite but strangely not mine. Frankly tried as I might to like this lovely fruit, I'm still not a big fan of it ... perhaps it's the strange juicy mix of sweet and sour that just doesn't please my palate.

Pierre has been asking me to cook pineapple rice for him ever since he had this dish when we were in this Thaï restaurant in Los Angeles 2 years ago but somehow it has always slipped off my mind I wonder why ...hehehe. Then at the supermarket recently, he casually remarked that the big wagon of juicy delicious pineapples would certainly make a delicious plate of pineapple rice... huuu, what, where, which pineapples?

Pineapple Fried Rice

(taken from Thai Cooking)

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe pineapple
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 to 2 tsp red chillies (seeded and chopped)
• 150 g pork loin or chicken (diced in small bite size)
• 150 g raw prawns
• 3 cups cold steamed rice
• 2 tbsp fresh Thai basil (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 spring onions (finely sliced)
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)

Directions

1. Cut the pineapple in half length-ways. Run a knife around the edge of the pineapple and then cut and scoop out the flesh. Cut into small pieces, discarding the core and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok at high heat. Stir fry garlic, onion and chillies for 1 minute.
3. Add in the pork; stir-fry, tossing constantly, for 2 minutes.
4. Add the prawn, stirring for another 3 minutes. Then remove all the meat from the wok and set aside.
5. Reheat the wok and stir-fry the pineapple pieces for about 3 minutes or until heated through and lightly golden; remove from the wok.
6. Pour the remaining oil to the wok. When oil is very hot, add the rice and stir fry for 2 minutes, tossing constantly.
7. Then add the pork, prawns and pineapple and stir thoroughly. Remove the wok from the heat.
8. Add the basil and fish sauce, and toss well.
9. Fill the pineapple shells with the fried rice. Scatter spring onions, coriander and chillies over the top and serve immediately.

The Verdict

If you like pineapples, you'll certainly like this one. And even if you are not a big fan of it like me, it's in fact quite nice. Sweet and salty at the same time, and it goes well with any spicy meat dish.

Notes

The book said that it is important that the cooked rice be refrigerated overnight before making fried rice and I forgot about it. So I cooked my rice early in the morning, letting it cool down before putting it in the refrigerator and cook it later that evening. It still works. The rice is easy to cook and separate well in the hot wok. Never try to cook fried rice using freshly cooked steaming rice: I have tried that before and the result I get is a big ball of fried rice.

Reduce the quantity of chilies if you are not used to spiciness or simply leave it out. It still tastes good.

Pineapples are chill-sensitive so do not store them in the refrigerator.