Egg,  One-dish Meals,  Prawns,  Rice,  Under $3

Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice (with Bak Kwa) 蝦仁蛋饭

Feb 15 - Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice DTF

The husband cooked us a delicious Valentine’s Day dinner of chicken chop, baked potatoes and bacon and peas last night! So this morning when he asked for a DTF style fried rice, I couldn’t possible say no right? Initially I was stunned for a minute thinking how I am going to cook this. I also did a quick mental stock-take of my ingredients.. yes I have prawns, eggs, spring onion and even overnight rice from Friday. I think can ah!

This was last night’s dinner if you haven’t seen it yet on my Facebook page:

Feb 15 - Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice DTF0

Being a mega bak kwa fan, he also asked to add some in the fried rice (it’s totally optional) and volunteered to cut them into small pieces. Not bad, got initiative.. volunteer to do little chores, volunteer to wash the dishes, volunteer to heat up the leftover potato from last night while I concentrate on cooking the fried rice. I kena trapped ah? I think he is more clever than me? Luckily I love to cook =)

Feb 15 - Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice DTF2

Honestly, I find DTF’s fried rice just.. ok. It’s “good” because of the copious amount of oil, and of course because it is tossed under extreme heat in a (well-oiled) wok. My version at home isn’t so oily but is still moist. Each fluffy grain of rice is coated with golden egg, and because I didn’t add any soy sauce, you can taste all the individual ingredients instead of tasting seasonings. Plus, you won’t risk the rice getting soggy.

Feb 15 - Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice DTF3

Feb 15 - Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice DTF4

My “secret” is to pour the beaten eggs over the overnight rice first before frying. Let the egg coat the cooked rice before you starting frying them in the wok. This way, you ensure that the rice remains moist instead of being cooked to death while you try desperately to combine the eggs with the rice in the wok. We’re often not quick enough to combine everything evenly before the egg cooks. And then you end up with bits of stray egg and parts of white rice. Not nice.

Ready for an easy and delicious fried rice recipe? Here we go!

Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice (with Bak Kwa) 虾仁蛋饭 (budgetpantry.com)
Serves: 2
Total cost per serving: $2.50 (less if you omit the bak kwa)

What you need:

2.5 rice bowls cooked overnight rice
1 slice bak kwa, cut into small pieces (optional)
8 shrimps
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten (add half teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon oil)
2 tablespoons chopped spring onions (I used scissors to cut)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon mushroom seasoning or half teaspoon chicken seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil

Steps:

Prepare the shrimps. Clean and dry shrimps, add baking soda, combine and set aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, rinse away the baking soda and pat shrimps dry. This is to make the shrimps bouncy. You can skip this step if you want.

In the mean time, pour the beaten egg (with salt and oil added) over the cooked rice in a large bowl. Ensure that each grain of rice is coated with egg.

Now we fry the shrimps. In a heated wok, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and fry shrimps til done. Set aside.

In the same wok, add the remaining oil and minced garlic. Give it a quick stir and turn up the heat to high. Immediately add in the rice. Keep tossing until egg is cooked, rice is dry and “dances” in the wok. Add the mushroom or chicken seasoning.

Add the bak kwa, spring onions and cooked shrimps. Toss to combine, dish and serve immediately.

How much I spent:

$2 for shrimps
$0.60 for eggs
$2.40 for bak kwa
Everything else from my pantry

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