APRON AND PANS - COCONUT FRIED RICE

Ingredients

500g long grain white rice

200ml coconut milk

1 handful coconut flesh/meat 

300ml chicken stock/broth Or water

100g cleaned shrimps (fresh or frozen. Alternatively, you can use fried liver or beef)

2 large carrots

1 handful/50g green peas or runner beans

1 large green bell pepper

1 large red bell pepper

1 handful/50g sweetcorn 

1 large onion bulb

2 - 3 tablespoonful curry powder

1½  teaspoonful garlic powder

½ tablespoonful black or white pepper 

½ teaspoon ginger powder/grated ginger 

1 - 2 cooking spoonful vegetable oil/coconut oil

Salt (to taste)

 

If you want a strong coconut flavor you can make use of coconut oil and also add some finely grated coconut (coconut shavings) during the stir-fry, but for a mild taste only coconut milk will be fine.

Preparation

Parboil the rice, place in a sieve to drain out excess water. Parboiling helps to reduce the starchy content of the rice which makes the grains to clump together when cooking, if you are ''anti-parboiling'', no problem, but it is strongly adviced when making coconut fried rice because the oil from the coconut milk tends to clump the rice and makes it sticky if you don't work smart. 

Wash all the vegetables. Peel the carrots & cut into small sizes. 

  

Dice the onion, take out the seeds of the green and red bell peppers & cut into smaller sizes.

  

Remove sweet corn from can, rinse and strain.

Place the carrots & green peas in boiling water for 3 minutes, strain out and place in a bowl of cold water, leave to cool in the water, then pour into a sieve and set aside. This method is called blanching. It helps to parboil the vegetables without cooking it through, thereby cutting down the stir-frying process. It also helps to preserve the vibrant color of the vegetables. If you like crunchy carrots, you can skip this step.

Pour the chicken stock and coconut milk into a large pot and bring to a boil.

As the mixture starts to boil, add 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, half of the diced onions and salt to taste. Mix well and add the parboiled rice. Leave to cook on medium heat.

The liquid should be at almost the same level as the rice, so that it dries up completely when the rice is done.

If you don't have stock, double the seasoning you'll be using and use water and coconut milk

When the rice starts to bubble, place the cleaned shrimps on top of the rice and leave to cook until the rice is done. 

Mix well, open the pot and leave the rice to cool a bit.

Heat up the oil, add the diced carrots, sweetcorn, peas, red & green bell pepper, coconut shavings and diced liver/meat (if using). Add the white/black pepper, ginger, and the remaining garlic & curry to taste. Stir fry for 1 min and transfer all the veggies into a bowl. 

Coconut fried rice CANNOT be classified as fried rice if it is not stir-fried, so this will be done in small batches as with all fried rice recipes.

Divide the stir-fried vegetables into equal portions depending on how much your frying pan/wok/skillet can take.

Place a portion of the stir-fried vegetables into the pan; add a portion of the cooked coconut rice and gently stir-fry for about 2 to 3 minutes to get enough heat into the rice. 

Repeat this process for the remaining rice and vegetable mix. 

Serve with chicken/turkey.