Killer Camper Shrimp Fried Rice

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Shrimp Fried Rice is one of those ubiquitous Chinese American dishes that everyone associates with takeout. Like most foods ordered from restaurants, especially the commonplace greasy spoon type joints on the street corners of every town in the world, you can make it better with just a few simple techniques. When you learn just how easy it is, you’ll never order it again.

I love fried rice for a couple of reasons. First, its delicious. Obviously. Second it is a fantastic way to use leftover rice from a previous meal. Third, its fast, simple, and easy. I can throw it together in mere minutes and so can you!

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So lets talk about what goes on with shrimp fried rice.

There are actually just a few elements that go into shrimp fried rice:

• Rice
• Vegetables
• Eggs
• Shrimp
• Soy Sauce

We’ll discuss each one as we go along. You’ll see its a very quick and simple dish to make that yields outsized results.

Rice

Leftover/premade rice is the cornerstone of this dish. Shrimp fried rice is the perfect thing to make after making a good cajun andouille and shrimp jambalaya or if you’ve done a low country boil (like the one I show you how to do if you follow that link)with rice as a side dish. Either way, you need rice that you’ve prepped a day ahead. I usually account for about 1/4 cup dry rice per serving. You can use brown or white. Brown rice is more nutritionally dense and has more flavor but white rice is what you might consider more traditional.

Always wash your rice before you cook it!

• Measure out the rice that you need
• Put it into a bowl
• Fill that bowl with water
• Use your hands to wash the rice. Stir it around. Roll it between your fingers. Wash it!
• Strain and rinse and repeat this until the water is clear.
• This could take 3 times. It could take up to 7. There is no clear answer. Just wash it until the water is clear.

Cut veg

This is just part of your mise en place. That means “everything in its place.” Its prep work and you need to do it before you start throwing stuff together. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do. You get your favorite knife. I am using one I got from Misen that keeps a great edge and is comfortable in my hand.

There are 3 vegetables that are typically used in shrimp fried rice.

• Onions
• Green Peas
• Carrots
• In this picture I also have some red peppers. I had ’em so I used ’em. You can too. No one is gonna come break your knees.

I cut the onions and the carrots in a dice the size of the peas so it has some uniformity.

Eggs

You have to have an egg or two. Its a standout portion of fried rice. I try to get eggs from a neighbor, or someone that’s got chickens and is selling them locally. I know you’ve seen signs on the side of the road for local eggs. Try it out. Folks usually charge between $3-$4 and they almost always far surpass the eggs you by in the store in terms of quality.

Shrimp

Here’s the real meat of the thing.

Soy Sauce

Get a decent quality soy sauce and you wont regret it. Its about the only way this is gonna be seasoned so you’re gonna taste the difference.

Lets Cook

Now traditionally and ideally this dish is made in a wok. I’m doing this out of a camper though, so having that great wok setup is just more weight to pack.

I use a Blackstone griddle, my new favorite thing. I can’t go on enough about how much I love this thing. Once its seasoned, its just about a perfect cooking surface. You can set up multiple heat zones, you can use a nice large spatula to move things easily and quickly, you can sear at high heat, saute, and it cleans up like a charm! I cannot recommend this beautiful beast enough!

This recipe really does require that you get your mise en place set before you start doing any cooking. Everything cooks very quickly and the time on the heat total is only 4-5 minutes.

Quick steps

1. Get your Blackstone, wok, or whatever large saute pan you happen to using, good and hot. I set up the griddle with a two zone heat configuration, with med high on one side and low on the other.
2. Add your vegetables and saute those. Technical term here is to “sweat” them. Basically, saute for a minute or two, until the onions and carrots begin to soften.
3. While the vegetable are cooking add your rice. You may need to add a little more oil here as the rice can sometimes be sticky. I cook that rice on the high heat area of the griddle and it browns pretty quickly.
4. Mix the rice and the vegetables and move them over the low heat area.
5. Add your shrimp to the high heat zone. Cook the shrimp about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip them all.
6. After you flip the shrimp, crack your egg onto the grill and using your spatula scramble it as it cooks. The egg will cook very quickly so work fast and scramble it up, then mix it into the rice and veg that are on the low heat portion.
7. When the shrimp are just done. About 1 1/2 minutes per side, mix everything together and fry it all together back on the high heat.
8. Add your soy sauce for seasoning.
9. Plate it up and sprinkle with thinly slice green onions or whatever garnish you prefer.
10. Enjoy the best shrimp fried rice you’ve ever had and throw away that Chinese to go menu!