My husband brought home a case of 6 very delicious pineapples the other day from the fruit and vegetable market, and for $2.00, he could not pass up that deal. Now his thinking was having pineapples over a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream. I on the other hand, had something different in mind. I had been planning on cooking up some fried rice, and these pineapples just sealed the deal.
I really enjoyed the sweetness that the pineapple imparted
With a little sprinkle of red chili flakes to give it that heat that I enjoy
Very easy to make, so lets get started
We’ll start by choosing one of these lovely pineapples. They were nice and ripe. You can tell by the lush looking green tops and the wonderful sweet aroma of pineapple of course
We can’t have fried rice without shrimp, well you can, but with them its soooo much better
Ahhhh, our “volunteer”
Give the ‘crown’ a gentle twist and remove. Be careful of those leaves as the points are very sharp
Look at that lovely, juicy flesh! Take a small sharp kitchen knife and run it around the inside edge of the pineapple, then remove the flesh. I cubed some of the pineapple and sat it aside
Scoop out any remaining fruit. Reserve the removed pineapple for later
I used some of the pineapple flesh and juice to marinate the shrimp–marinated for about an hour. There was no acidity to ‘cook’ the shrimp
Sautéed the onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil until translucent, then added the garlic , and stir for a minute or two more
Added the red chili flakes, get those incorporated
Next the cubed pork. The pork had a little bath in pineapple juice as well. Saute until the pork is no longer pink
The shrimp have made their appearance, saute until the shrimp are pink
Removed the pork and shrimp mixture from the pan and sat aside until further notice
Added 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the cleaned pan and gave the cubed pineapple a little sear
That’s the colorization I’m looking for. The sugar from the pineapple made for a nice caramelization
Remove the pineapple from the pan, added the remaining oil to the pan, with moderately high heat added the cooked white rice
Shrimp and pork mixture, caramelized pineapples are mingling very well with the rice. Mix it all together, remove from the heat
At this point, throw in the pea pods and bean sprouts. The residual heat from the pan is all that’s needed
Added two tsp of fish sauce and Thai basil to the rice mixture and stir well
Fill the pineapple halves with the fried rice mixture, garnish with scallions, chopped cilantro, and more red pepper flakes if desired
At this point it would have been nice to add the sliced red chili peppers. They would have given another nice heat element as well as provided more visual appeal with dots of red. However my trek to the vegetable market earlier proved futile as they had none in stock
Our Pineapple Fried Rice “boat” has sailed
What to drink? A nice Pinot Noir would have paired well with the spiciness of the pork, however,…
…all I had on hand was a nice Bordeaux
Recipe:
1 ripe pineapple
4 Tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic-chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1-2 teaspoons chopped red chilies or crushed chili flakes
5 oz pork loin, diced
1/2 lb. shrimp
3 cups cooked white rice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Thai basil (if you can find it)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 scallions – thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Fresh red or green chilies – thinly sliced
A hand full each of bean sprouts and pea pods (generally I cut the very tips off the pods and string them…removing the fine string along each edge.)
Proceed:
Cut the pineapple in half length-wise. Run a knife around the edge of the pineapple and then cut and scoop out the flesh. Cut the pineapple away from the core, cube it, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large heavy bottom pan (I didn’t use the wok this time around) over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and chilies to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the pork; stir-fry, tossing constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes. Remove all the meat from the pan and set aside. Reheat the pan and stir-fry the pineapple pieces for 3 minutes or until heated through and lightly golden; remove from the pan.
Add the remaining oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes, tossing constantly. Return the pork, shrimp and pineapple mixture to the pan and stir thoroughly. Remove the pan from heat.
Add the basil and fish sauce, bean sprouts, pea pods, and toss well. Fill the pineapple shells with the fried rice. Scatter spring onions, cilantro, and chilies over the top and serve immediately.
rubyzkitchen 