Seafood Fried Rice

Smell the sesame oil.

For fried rice, I pretty much follow Emeril's recipe. My only modifications are generally leaving out the ham and adjusting the vegetables to whatever I have in the house. It has really great flavor - sesame oil and ginger come through, and I have a knack for overdoing it on the garlic, so the garlic flavor tends to be predominant as well. I love the complexity of flavor that this recipe has, without being too salty or greasy like take-out fried rice.

I had a helper today. He cooked the eggs and the shrimp, and then he took over the final mixing process because I wasn't getting the clumps of plain rice broken up to his liking.

Showing me how it's done.

The Recipe:

1 tb canola oil

1 tb sesame oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tb fresh ginger, grated

4 green onions, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 onion, chopped

2 c cabbage, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 lb shrimp, sprinkled with cajun seasoning and sauteed

1/2 lb crab meat

3 eggs, scrambled (cooked)

8 cups cooked rice

3 tb soy sauce

1 tb sugar

black pepper, to taste

• Heat the canola oil and sesame oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, green onions, and red pepper flakes, and stir 1 minute.
• Add the onion, cabbage, and celery. Turn heat up to high and stir until vegetables are softened.
• Add the carrots and stir to combine.
• Add the rice, soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
• Fold in the cooked shrimp, crab meat, and egg. Serve.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: B+

Overall reason: Not the healthiest, but tasty. Also a great way to use up veggies. 

Time to prepare: 40 minutes

Husband quote: "The rice still has clumps. There's still clumps of rice to break up. I still see clumps. Do you want me to mix it?"