Recipe Description
Petai Fried Rice is a Spicy Fried Rice prepared with a unique addition to a simple Sambal Fried Rice – Petai/Stinky Beans along with Shrimps/Prawns, Eggs, Carrots, Greens and fresh homemade Sambal. The best about Fried Rice is that it is quite adaptable, versatile and can cater to satisfy your whims and fancies. This spicy Petai Fried Rice is not the HOT type, but the spicy type that can treat your spice reckoned taste buds to the utmost satisfaction. Freshly prepared Sambal has an inviting fragrance when mixed along with the pervasive smell of Petai, which makes this Fried Rice inviting and beckons you to eat more.
Petai is one of the must-try Malaysian Exotic Food. It is used in South East Asian cooking. It has an acquired taste and a pervasive smell. So it is commonly called “Stinky Beans”. It has a bitter taste and emits a strong odour even after ingestion. Due to its flavour, it is usually cooked in Sambals with other vegetables like Okra, Kacang Botol (Winged Bean/Goa Bean) or with shrimps and served as a side dish to rice.
This recipe is a unique version of fried rice prepared with Petai. Sambal is a hot & spicy condiment mainly prepared with Red Chillies, Spices, Herbs and Aromatics. Though Fried Rice/Nasi Goreng has nothing to do with being Spicy, it has adapted along with the Cuisine unique to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It is a literal adaptation associated with Culture more than Cuisine where Sambal is one base condiment, sauce or relish which can be incorporated into almost every dish. I have prepared fresh Sambal for this Petai Sambal Fried Rice, by soaking Dry Red Chillies and grinding it along with Shallots, Garlic, Galangal and Belacan.
If you are from a region where these fresh ingredients aren’t available, you can go for store-bought Sambal Paste from Asian Groceries.
Recipe Ingredient
- Dry Red Chillies - 5 Nos.
- Birds-eye Chillies - 5 Nos.
- Shallots - 5 Nos.
- Garlic - 4 Cloves.
- Dry Shrimp Paste(Belacan) - 1 Teaspoon
- Galangal a Small Piece
- Tamarind - 1 Teaspoon
- Salt - To Taste
- Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka) - 1 Teaspoon
- Jasmine Rice - 2 Cups (Cooked)
- Onions - 1 No.
- Petai/Stinky Beans - 1/4 Cup
- Shrimps/Prawns - 12- 15 Shrimps
- Bunapi Mushrooms - a Few Stalks
- Carrot - 2 Tablespoons
- Cabbage - a few Shreds
- Light Soy Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
- Sambal - 3-4 Tbpsns
- Lemon Grass - 1 Stalk
- Rice Wine Vinegar - 1 Teaspoon
- Oil - 2-3 Tablespoon
- Scallions/Chives - a Few Stalks(for Garnishing)
Instructions
- Soak the Dried Red Chillies in hot water for 20-30 minutes until they are soft. Dry roast the Shrimp paste until fragrant.
- Grind Dry Red Chillies soaked in hot water, 3 Birds-eye Chillies, 5 Shallots, 2 Cloves of Garlic, a Small Piece of Galangal along with toasted Dry Shrimp Paste(Belacan). Grind the above ingredients into a smooth paste and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and saute the ground paste on a high flame for about 10 minutes or until all moisture evaporates. If the mix is a bit dry, add some more oil and saute them on a low flame for another 5-10 minutes or until oil separate from the mix.
- Add tamarind extract and boil it for another 5 minutes on a low flame. Add salt and palm sugar and mix well. At this stage, the sambal should be fragrant, if not, saute it for some more time.
- Cook the Fragrant rice as per instruction and allow it cool. Cut Lemon Grass Stalk into small pieces, use just the white part of it. Can Grind the Lemon Grass along with the Sambal ingredients, or just bruise them and add it while sauteing.
- Peel, de-vein and wash the Prawns/Shrimps. Keep them aside. Clean Wash and cut Petai into halves and keep it aside.
- Heat Oil in a pan/wok, Saute finely chopped Onions, 2 cloves of Garlic and 3 pieces of Bird's eye chillies until onions turn translucent. Add Sambal Paste and fry this on a high flame for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in Light Soy Sauce and give a quick stir. Add Petai/Stinky Beans along with Prawns/Shrimps and cook briefly on a high flame.
- Add finely diced Carrots, Bunapi Mushrooms along with a dash of Salt and a pinch of Sugar. Allow it to cook on a high flame for a few minutes.
- Add the cooked Fragrant Rice. Drizzle Rice Wine Vinegar over the rice. Mix it well until every grain is well coated with the Sauces and Sambal.
- Adjust the Salt & add a teaspoon of Gula Melaka(Palm Sugar) & give a quick stir. Stir in finely shredded Cabbage and Scrambled Eggs(If adding) to the rice.
- Fry the rice on a high flame for few minutes or until the rice is dry(no more sticky). Switch off the flame & garnish Petai Fried Rice with Scallions.
- Serve Petai Fried Rice hot with any dips, sauces or side dishes of your choice. Can serve it along with Fried Eggs or simply add scrambled Eggs to Petai Fried Rice.
