This pineapple fried rice recipe is a family favorite of Melanie Briley, Director of Sales and Marketing for 21c Oklahoma City. You can add whatever vegetables you have on hand (snow peas, baby corn, etc.) and adjust the spice but this is her favorite combination. The dish is hardy enough to stand alone but can be paired with roasted broccoli drizzled with hoisin sauce and scallion pancakes to create a wonderful takeout experience at home. Use leftover rice to gain the perfect texture. Fresh pineapple can be substituted for tidbits, but in making as a weeknight meal, the tidbits save the time of trimming and cutting a whole pineapple. This recipe reheats wonderfully (it only gets better!) and is perfect for lunch the next day. This is on weekly rotation in Melanie’s house and has opened the door to experimenting with other take-out favorites!
Ingredients
3 T Soy Sauce
2 T Toasted Sesame Oil
1 T Sriracha Sauce (heaping)
2 T + 1 t Peanut Oil
8 oz Chopped Ham
1 Orange Bell Pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into ¼ inch strips
2 Carrots, Peeled and Julienned
6 Scallions – White Part Minced, Green Parts Cut into ½ inch pieces
1 Medium Yellow Onion, sliced in half and cut in ¼ inch moons
1 ½ t Chopped Garlic
1 T Minced Ginger (fresh)
5 C Leftover White Rice (cold)
3 Large Eggs, beaten
1 C Pineapple Tidbits
Instructions
Combine soy sauce, sesame oil and sriracha in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat 1 T peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium high heat until it starts to smoke. Add ham, bell pepper, carrots, scallion whites, onion and cook, stirring occasionally until lightly browned, 8 – 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Transfer mixture to large plate and set aside.
Heat 1 T peanut oil in empty skillet over medium high heat. Add rice and cook, pressing to break up clumps until heated through and slightly crispy (about 5 minutes).
In a separate pan over medium heat, add remaining 1 t peanut oil. Add beaten eggs and cook to a soft scramble (will continue to cook once added back to the rice), remove from heat.
Add the eggs, ham/veggie mixture back into the pan with the rice. Add the sauce, stir to combine. Add the pineapple and continue to cook over medium heat until the pineapple is heated through. Turn off heat. Garnish with scallion greens and serve.
“We miss it all. We miss the conversations and laughter in Lockbox. We miss the celebrations in our event spaces. We miss the curious faces in our art galleries. We miss our guest rooms being full of people from all over the world. Most of all, we miss you and very much look forward to life returning to more normal times. We cannot wait to welcome you back to the quirky, imaginative world that is 21c Museum Hotels. Stay well and take care.”
