Prawn Fried Rice

Dinner | Thai

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Servings: 1

Prawn Fried Rice is essentially a Thai dish called Khao pad goong. It’s a 10-minute meal once your rice is prepped, and the dipping sauce is the trick that means no MSG or extra seasoning is needed in the rice itself. The contrast between the mellow fried rice and the sharp, hot sauce is what makes the dish.

Ingredient Notes

Prawns: I usually buy them raw, peeled, deveined and frozen. One of the easiest proteins to prep because you thaw them and go straight to the wok, no shelling or gutting. Pull them out of the freezer half an hour before cooking, or run them under cold water for 5 minutes to defrost. Never buy them pre-cooked for this dish, they’ll go rubbery in the wok.

Choy sum: A Chinese leafy green with tender stems and small yellow flowers. Look for it at Asian grocers or the Asian veg section of most supermarkets. Substitutes include gai lan, bok choy or a mix of spinach and thinly sliced broccolini. The trick is separating the stems from the leaves. Stems go in early because they need more time. Leaves go in at the end so they just wilt through.

Cold, day-old jasmine rice: Cook the rice at least 4 hours ahead, ideally the day before. Freshly cooked rice is too soft and will clump into a wet mess in the wok. Cold rice separates cleanly into individual grains when it hits the hot oil, which is what you’re after. Leftover takeaway rice works too.

Fish sauce and bird’s eye chilli: The two ingredients that make the dipping sauce sing. Fish sauce is salty and deeply savoury from fermented anchovies, a little goes a long way. Bird’s eye chillies are small and very hot. One in the sauce is usually plenty. Adjust to your heat tolerance.

Equipment

Wok (carbon steel is best)
Chopping board
Sharp chef’s knife
Wooden spatula or wok chan
Small bowl (for the dipping sauce)

Ingredients

Dipping sauce
1 bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced
1 tbsp fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp sugar
Fried Rice
10 raw prawns, peeled and deveined
3 to 4 stems choy sum, leaves and stems separated
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 egg
1 cup cooked, cold jasmine rice
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp peanut oil (or another neutral high-smoke-point oil)
A few cracks of white pepper
sea salt, to taste
To serve
½ cucumber, thinly sliced

Directions

Make the dipping sauce
Add the sliced chilli, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves and set aside.
Prep the fried rice ingredients
Peel and thinly slice the shallot lengthwise. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
Slice the choy sum stems into 1cm pieces and roughly slice the leafy tops, keeping the stems and leaves separated.
Thinly slice the cucumber for the garnish and set aside.
Cook your fried rice
Heat the wok over high heat until it’s smoking hot. Add the peanut oil and swirl to coat.
Add the shallot and stir-fry for 30 seconds until soft. Add the choy sum stems with a pinch of salt and toss for 1 minute, keeping everything moving in the wok.
Add the garlic and prawns. Toss and cook for 30 to 45 seconds until the prawns turn opaque.
Push everything to one side of the wok. Add a small drizzle of oil to the empty side, crack in the egg and scramble briefly. Toss through the rest of the ingredients once the egg is almost set.
Add the cold rice and toss through until well combined and coated. Break up any clumps as you go.
Add the choy sum leaves, oyster sauce and a few cracks of white pepper. Toss for 30 seconds until the leaves wilt and everything’s mixed through.
Serve
Tip into a bowl and serve immediately with the sliced cucumber and the dipping sauce alongside.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Wait for the wok to smoke

Preheat the wok on high until you can see wisps of smoke coming off the surface. Then add the oil. If the oil starts to shimmer and smoke almost immediately, you’re at the right temperature. A cold wok gives you steamed, gluggy fried rice. A ripping hot wok gives you the smoky char that makes this dish.

Let the sauce do the seasoning

The rice itself gets minimal seasoning, just a bit of oyster sauce and white pepper. All the punch comes from the dipping sauce on the side. Each spoonful gets dipped, which means you can adjust the salt, heat and acid to your taste bite by bite.

Storage

Fried rice is best eaten fresh, straight out of the wok. Any leftovers should be cooled quickly by spreading on a tray in the fridge uncovered, then transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 1 day. Reheat until piping hot in a hot wok or pan with a splash of oil. Cooked rice can grow harmful bacteria if left at room temperature, so be strict about cooling and reheating. Don’t freeze it.

FAQs

Why no MSG in this recipe? I usually reach for MSG in fried rice, but I skip it here because the dipping sauce carries all the umami you need. Fish sauce, lime and chilli are punchy enough that MSG in the rice would be redundant. If you’d still like the extra hit, add a small pinch when you add the oyster sauce.

Can I use pre-cooked prawns? No, and I’d avoid it. Pre-cooked prawns will go rubbery in the hot wok. Buy raw ones and cook them quickly for sweet, tender prawns. Frozen raw prawns work perfectly, just thaw them properly first.

Can I make this without a wok? Yes, a large heavy frying pan or skillet works. You’ll lose some of the wok hei smokiness because a flat pan doesn’t concentrate the heat the same way, but the flavour will still be there. Get the pan properly hot before anything goes in.

What can I sub for choy sum? Gai lan, bok choy, broccolini or Chinese broccoli all work. Even regular spinach or kale (thinly sliced) will do. Whatever you use, keep any tough stems and delicate leaves separated so the stems get more time in the wok.

Can I scale this up for more people? Yes, but do it in batches rather than doubling in the same wok. Fried rice is a heat-driven dish, and adding double the ingredients drops the wok temperature and you end up steaming instead of frying. Two solo serves back-to-back is better than one crowded double.