Shrimp Fried Rice (in my Monkey Bowl!)
October 11, 2011
Shrimp Fried Rice (recipe by “Oishii”)
My notes: I purchased the cutest rice bowl with monkeys on it at Scratch ‘n Sniff in Oak Park. And that was my inspiration for making shrimp fried rice today. I just wanted to show off my new monkey bowl!!
This is what it looks like inside:
OK, now back to our recipe! The prep notes below are long because I believe the technique for making fried rice can mean the difference between a good and a bad batch. It is not difficult to make though.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of uncooked Japanese rice (Kokuho Rose, Botan, or Nishiki brands)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 11 ounces medium-sized raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (Kikkoman brand), and more for serving
- 4 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3-4 scallions, chopped
- freshly ground pepper
- kosher salt
Preparation
Make “day old rice”: Measure out rice and water according to package directions and add to rice maker. Rinse several times with water until the water is no longer chalky. Add water back to rice maker to the measured level and let it set for at least 30 minutes or up to a day. Cook rice. When rice is finished, let it cool, and then put it in a freezer bag. Break up the rice in the bag so it doesn’t stick together. Put freezer bag in refrigerator or freezer to allow rice to dry out over night. This is crucial. Take rice out of refrigerator or freezer. Thaw if taking out of freezer. (I like to put it into the microwave oven for a few minutes until it is just soft enough to break apart.) Break up the rice inside the bag again.
Beat eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
In another small bowl mix shrimp with cornstarch, sesame oil, and garlic. Heat a very large non-stick fry pan or wok over high heat and coat with vegetable oil. Fry shrimp until is no longer pink. Toss in the rice and push contents of pan over to one side. Half of the pan will be empty.
Add beaten eggs to empty side of pan. Pretend you are making an omelet. Let eggs set on edges, push edges down a bit with flat rubber spatula, swirl runny eggs under edges. When omelet is almost set, gently fold rice mixture on top of it.
Quickly add oyster sauce and soy sauce. Toss in scallions and mixed veggies to rice and egg mixture and heat though. Season to taste with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and extra soy sauce.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to consider: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com
Now it’s your turn. Have you ever had a cute bowl you just had to show off? Do you have any fried rice recipes to share? If you enjoyed this post, we would love to hear from you! Please leave some feedback in the comments section below. -Michael
Cinnamon and Fig Cookie Ice Cream
October 8, 2011
My notes: While making filling for fresh fig bars, my take on the famous “Fig Newtons,” I started dreaming up all sorts of delicious uses for the fig jam like swirling it into coffee cakes and ice cream, or in fig tarts and pies. I couldn’t resist the idea of adding chunks of my homemade fig cookies to cinnamon ice cream to create a new flavor. The cinnamon pastry of the fig bars along with its honey-cinnamon infused jam seemed like the perfect partner to mix in cinnamon ice cream. I quickly decided to whip up a batch before my cookies all but disappeared.
The base of this recipe is slightly adapted from “Cinnamon Ice Cream,” The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. If you are not familiar with the book, I highly recommend it, as it is highly informative and entertaining. It’s the first cookbook I actually read cover to cover. This post is linked to “Sweets for Saturday #39,” a delicious dessert party on Sweet as Sugar Cookies blog.
Cinnamon and Fig Cookie Ice Cream (recipe by “Oishii!”)
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh fig bars, chopped into 1″ squares
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 10 cinnamon sticks about 3″ long
- 2 cups heavy cream, divided
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Preparation
Put the chopped fig squares in the bottom of your ice cream storage container and freeze.
Heat a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks, and 1 cup of heavy cream. Stir well to allow the sugar to dissolve. Remove from heat once it begins to bubble. Cover and let it steep for an hour. Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks.
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
Reheat the cinnamon liquid. Add the second cup of heavy cream to another large bowl, and set a fine mesh strainer on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly add the warm liquid to the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then add the egg yolk mixture back into the sauce pan. Over medium heat stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon (or a heat-resistant silicone spatula), until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Press the custard through the strainer with the spoon. Whisk in cinnamon powder until well incorporated. Set the custard over the ice bath. Stir until cool.
Refrigerate the custard 8 hours or overnight. Freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Fold in the fresh fig bar pieces. Freeze ice cream until solid.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to consider: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com
Now it’s your turn. Have you ever created a new ice cream flavor? Do you have any fresh fig recipes to share? If you enjoyed this post, we would love to hear from you! Please leave some feedback in the comments section below. -Michael
Fresh Fig Bars
October 5, 2011
My notes: I was delighted to find 2-pound boxes of fresh black mission figs on sale at Trader Joe’s. I knew exactly what I was going to make with them. Homemade “Fig Newtons.”
This recipe was inspired by many. I adapted the dough from “Fig Pillows” in The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle, but learned how to make fresh fig jam from two fellow bloggers. Thanks to Cozy, Delicious (Homemade Fig Newtons) and Bakin’ and Eggs (Fresh Fig Bars). I was also hoping to develop a special recipe for my friend Mandy at The Complete Bookbook, who has a fig tree in her yard!
The filling is fun to make and it fills the home with a pleasant scent of honey and cinnamon. The cookies go great with coffee or tea, and the texture even improves the next day. This recipe is linked in to Sweet as Sugar Cookies’ Sweets for Saturday #38. It is an amazing collection of bloggers’ favorite desserts. Check it out!
Fresh Fig Bars (recipe by “Oishii!”)
Ingredients
filling
- 2 cups fresh chopped figs (12.5 ounces)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
decoration
- two tablespoons heavy cream
- course sugar (such as Sugar in the Raw)
Preparation
Make the fig filling. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add figs, honey, water, and cinnamon sticks. Heat over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and then turn down to very low heat. Barely simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour or until it thickens to consistency of jam. Add more water if necessary. Cool, and if desired, process in a food processor. You will have well over one cup of filling.
Make the dough. Over a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients just until a dough forms. Flour your hands (dough will be sticky!) and form into two rectangles. Wrap each in saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Assemble and bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a heavy-rimmed baking sheet with butter. Prepare two sheets of parchment paper the size of the baking sheet. Lightly flour one rectangle of dough over one sheet of parchment paper. Cover dough with the second sheet of parchment paper and roll out to a size slightly less than the baking sheet. Peel parchment paper off top, flip it over, peel bottom sheet of paper off and place dough onto baking sheet. Evenly spread 1 1/4 cups of fig filling onto dough. Roll out another sheet of dough the same size, and put it on top of the first one covered with fig filling. Crimp ends together. Brush top of dough with heavy cream and sprinkle with course sugar such as Sugar in the Raw. Bake in oven about 30 minutes until golden brown. Cool a bit, cut off ends, and into squares.
Ideas: Try using some of these bars in Cinnamon and Fig Cookies Ice Cream.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to consider: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com
Fig season is very short. Do you have any fresh fig recipes to share? If you enjoyed this post, we would love to hear from you! Please leave some feedback in the comments section below. -Michael
