After striking gold with readers after posting the vegetable fried recipe earlier in the year, I knew I just had to post this shrimp fried rice recipe for you all. Not only is shrimp fried rice an excellent one pot meal on it’s own, it’s also a great way to use left-over rice you may have from a previous night’s dinner. I must confess that this was not a planned recipe as I would normally do… before setting up the cameras etc. There was some serious noise originating out of my belly and I knew I had to get some food down there before a fete broke out. It was then that I noticed that there was some cooked rice in the fridge.. one thing led to the next and I was enjoying a lovely lunch in the back yard within half hour. This shrimp fried rice takes less than 6 minutes to cook, but I had to wait for the shrimp to thaw or things would have been much faster.
You’ll Need…
1/4 cup small shrimp (cleaned/deveined)
1 medium onion
1 scallion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrot
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 1/2 tablespoon soya sauce
1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups rice (cooked) * see note below
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Notes: You can also add added flavor by adding a couple cloves of crushed garlic the same time you add the grated ginger. I used brown rice which I cooked in salted water and allowed to chill in the fridge (it was left over rice). It’s important that you use chilled rice to get that lovely grainy texture of good fried rice.
Clean, devein and wash your shrimp.. then pat dry. In a small bowl place the shrimp and season with the black pepper and 5 spice powder. Let that marinate as you prepare the other ingredients. If you don’t know how to clean and devein shrimp, watch this video: How To Clean And Devein Shrimp.
Chop the onion, scotch bonnet pepper and scallion, then cube the carrot and celery (try to maintain the same size for even cooking).
Place your wok or non stick frying pan on medium/high heat and add the vegetable oil. Now add the onion and grated ginger and give it a good stir. You’ll be amazed at the lovely aroma which will hit you smack in your face. Now add the cubed celery and carrot as they will need to cook a bit so you have a slight crunch as you enjoy this dish. Allow that to cook for a minute or two, then add the seasoned shrimp and stir. Here is where you would also add the chopped scotch bonnet pepper slices (gotta have that Caribbean sunshine).
Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce to the pan.. don’t get alarmed when it get the entire pot blackish, it will balance off once we add the rice. Let that warm through for about 30 seconds, then add the chilled rice and give it a good stir.
It’s very important that you stir this very well so the rice is coated in that lovely colour and flavor we built. It should take about 2-3 minutes for the rice to heat through and pick all those exciting flavors of this shrimp fried rice. Now top with the chopped scallion and stir well.
You will notice that we did not add any salt as the soy sauce will add the element for us, plus the rice was cooked with salt. If you find that the overall colour is not dark enough for you, you can certainly add more soy sauce as necessary. Do remember that the more you add, it will change the saltiness of the finished dish.
The idea is to have everything prepared as you want to cook on a relatively high heat..FAST!
It was a day of leftovers as I included a piece of wicked jerk chicken I made the day before when we had some friends over. If shrimp is not your thing, you can certainly use chicken (slice thin) for an amazing chicken fried rice.
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Thank you for all your lovely recipes. This is one that I will be trying soon but to me, that amount of shrimp is not nearly enough for that amount of rice. I guess I will double the amount of shrimp. Love, Jean Gordon.
Hi Chris, if I wanted to add bodi, would I do so at the same time as the carrots?
Loveee the recipe. Is there a substitute for the Chinese 5 spice if I can not find it in stores ?
I guess you can just leave it out
Hi Chris, I think you are fabulous. So glad you’re a Canadian! Love it, eh! Caribbean Canadians rock!
Chris, I’m thinking adding a little egg might be nice. What do you think… and would you add it in? Thanks buddy!
Egg is a very nice touch in a fresh batch. I will often make a batch with shrimp and a separate batch with egg. (picky eaters). However, I find that egg gets a bit rubbery as leftovers. So I try to make the scramble egg pieces smaller and drier. Then the rubbery aspect is not as noticeable.
Love the mix of herbs and basic ingredients. I would never work with leftover rice and wonder how much of the Caribbean recipes were actually made in something similar to the Spanish paella pan.
ah goin an muscel up a pot with this recipe here bro. look so good ( in Trini accent) lol
bro ur the best Leaarie here from Montreal
Hi Chris, Pauline here, just want you to know I think you are the best thing that ever happened to Caribbean cooking I appreciate and thank you for taking the time to bring us all these lovely recipies and videos. Love ya Chris .Pauline from Barbados.
This is a good side dish.
lovely recipe had this dish up to yesterday delicious
Hi Chris I enjoy ur show aired on NTN 69. Since in Guyana we have fresh shrimp daily I'll surely try the fried rice.It will be a change from the chicken we often tend to use alot….keep the good work up…thanks
i certainly will try your method with the oyster sauce -sometimes if i have a sweet pepper i will use it -your food is so tempting and you put love into it keep up the good works
Love this recipe!!!!!!
Yeah, I get to be first…This is so yummy looking and I am off to purchase some tiger prawns tomorrow D.V. I now have the secret to fried rice – left over cold rice!!!! I have always used hot freshly cooked rice with disappointing results. Now I know – thanks Chris and keep up the great work! Bless