Crab Fried Rice ข้าวผัดปู

Crab Fried Rice ข้าวผัดปู

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  • Post category:Thai

Tips for Non-Mushy Rice

MYTH: You need old, cold rice from the fridge in order to make good, non-mushy fried rice. Completely wrong. In all my years working in restaurants I have never seen them use anything but hot rice straight from the rice cooker. What’s their secret?

Well cooked rice in an uncrowded pan. That’s it. Many people cook their rice too wet to begin with, then combine that with trying to cook all 5 portions for your family in one pan, and you can easily end up with risotto.

Description

Crab fried rice is arguably the most popular kind of fried rice in Thailand. It’s easy, quick, and SO satisfying. You can also use any other kinds of protein instead of crab (just cook it first!), as it’s a great way to use up any leftover meats you have.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 375g (2 ½ cups) cooked rice (see note)
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce, preferably Thai
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 130g crab meat
  • 2 green onions and/or a few sprigs of cilantro
  • Cucumber slices for serving
  • Lime wedges for serving

PRIK NAM PLA (OPTIONAL CONDIMENT)

  • 1 Thai chili, thinly sliced
  • 1 clove minced garlic (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp (approx.) fish sauce 
  • 1 tsp (approx.) lime juice

*Measurements for these do not have to be exact. You just need enough fish sauce to cover the chilies and garlic, and you can make it with more or less lime juice to taste.

Instructions

MAKE PRIK NAM PLA: 

  1. Place sliced chilies and garlic in a small dipping sauce bowl and add enough fish sauce to completely submerge the chilies and garlic. You can add more fish sauce to make the sauce less spicy.
  2. Add lime juice and let sit until ready to use. This will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.

FOR THE FRIED RICE:

  1. Heat oil and garlic in a wok over medium heat and stir until the smallest pieces of garlic start to turn golden.
  2. Add eggs, scramble slightly, then let them set about halfway before stirring to break up the pieces.
  3. Turn heat up to high then add rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and pepper and toss to distribute the sauce evenly. Once mixed, add most of the crabmeat (save a bit for garnish), and continue tossing for about 2 minutes, occasionally letting the rice sit without stirring so that it can toast and develop flavour. Be gentle when tossing so you don’t break up the crab pieces too much.
  4. Once the rice is dry and some of the grains are toasted, turn off the heat and toss in most of the green onions and/or cilantro (save some for garnish).
  5. Plate and top with the remainder of the crab meat and green onions/cilantro.
  6. Serve with cucumber slices, a lime wedge, and prik nam pla. Enjoy!

Notes

If measuring rice by measuring cups, pack it in gently just so there are no big holes but don’t push it in tightly.

You do not need to have old, cold rice to make good fried rice! You can cook it straight from the rice cooker but your rice has to be dry. So if cooking fresh rice, wash the rice well and add a little less water than you normally use. For Thai jasmine rice, I use a 1:1 rice to water ratio for fried rice, but this may vary depending on your particular rice. See this video on