Fried Rice with Mixed Seafood (Khao Pad Talay)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 egg, beaten
3 ounces white prawns, peeled and deveined
3 ounces scallops, large dice
3 ounces squid, finely chopped
3 ounces crab meat
2 tsp sugar
2-4 Thai Chiles, red sliced thinly and minced
splash of Fish Sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 cups cold steamed jasmine rice
2 green onion, finely chopped
Thai Basil leaves, big handful

Garnish
carrot, julienned
Chile flowers (slit chiles placed in ice water to curl)
Basil leaves

Condiments

cucumber, sliced
Cherry tomatoes
Lime wedges
Fresh spring onion

Directions:

Use leftover chilled Steamed Jasmine rice

Prepare the seafood. Place seafood in cold water with 1 tsp salt for 20 minutes to refresh them.

Peel the prawns, removing the heads and legs, and devein them. If using whole squid clean or if using bodies slice or dice. Bay sacllops can be used whole, if using sea scallops cut into small pices. Blanch all the seafood briefly in boiling water, then drain well.

Shell crab meat if using fresh.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Add the onion and chiles, stirfry until lightly golden brown.

Add the beaten egg and stir for half a minute, then add the seafood. Toss lightly.

Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper, and stirfry for a minute to allow the seasoning to flavour the seafood.

Now then add the cold steamed rice. Stirfry well on medium-low heat to heat the rice thoroughly. Add the chopped spring onion and basil leaves at the last moment, stirfry to incorporate.

Plate: on one large serving plate or individual plates. I like to form a flat botton cone shape with a banana leaf, spoon the fried seafood rice into it, garish with the carrot and a single grilled shrimp tail on.

Serve with sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, spring onion and lime wedge.

Tip: Don’t cut lime vertically through the core. Cut vertically a couple of millimetres to one side of the core, otherwise you won’t be able to squeeze juice from it.