[This recipe is one of our NINE Favourite Recipes of 2020. Check out the post here].

The shrimp fried rice at Din Tai Fung (DTF) is definitely one of our favourites. Succulent prawns, the lovely eggy, slightly greasy fried rice taste and sufficient wok hei – the fried rice is something that we must order whenever we are at the restaurant (along with the xiao long bao of course).

We’ve been wanting to cook this for awhile, and were so happy to find prawns during our grocery run yesterday. It turned out surprisingly good! I would say it’s about 80% close to the real deal.

The OG DTF dish has definitely more wok hei, and the short grain Japanese rice they use has a nicer grainy feel and is drier. But this really hits the spot during these #mco times and at a fraction of DTF’s price too!

For someone who loves (and uses a lot of) garlic, I was surprised that garlic is not used at all for this recipe.

KEY TIPS:
* I used brown rice for this. I think the key to making the fried rice work is the seasoning – always adjust to taste. I think the chicken powder/stock gives the dish its distinct taste as well as the eggs and spring onions. I added sesame oil for that extra fragrance.
* Overnight rice are the best (I cooked on the same day, but I left it in the chillier for 2-3 hours) to yield dry rice. Of course, fresh prawns are key too. We used tiger prawns for the big succulent flesh.
* To get that wok hei (translates to breath of wok in Cantonese) to yield slighlty charred rice and smoky taste – turn up fire to high heat. This is essential for a lot of hawker stir-fry dishes in Malaysia – i.e. char kuey teow and hokkien mee.

For video an step-by-step process, check out our Instagram account @thokohmakan.

Din Tai Fung shrimp fried rice [Recipe]

Recipe by ThoKoh MakanCourse: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: Chinese, Asian, TaiwaneseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Recipe for the very popular and delicious Din Tai Fung shrimp fried rice.

Ingredients

2 cups of rice (preferably overnight)
3 large eggs
6-8 prawns, shelled and deveined
1 tsp chicken powder/stock
3 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp sesame oil
cooking oil
2 stalks of spring onion, chopped

Directions

Deshell and devein the prawns. You can use a satay stick to devein the prawns (see pic). Soak prawns in iced water, so they remain succulent.
Heat up oil in wok. Fry the prawns until cooked (not too long – say about 95% cooked). Remove prawns and set aside.
Add more oil to wok and fry the eggs. Mix the yolk around quickly as you fry the eggs. When it is about 80% done (yolk is still runny), add the rice and turn up the heat. Stir fry the rice and press down with your spatula to remove any clumps.
When rice is mixed well with eggs, add the seasoning – chicken powder, light soy sauce, salt (to taste), and sesame oil. Once you are happy with the flavours, add the chopped spring onion.
Return the prawns to wok. Fry for about 10-15 seconds and turn off heat. Serve and MAKAN!

Notes

Key to making the fried rice work is the seasoning – always adjust to taste. I think the chicken powder/stock gives the dish its distinct taste as well as the eggs and spring onions. I added sesame oil for that extra fragrance. No garlic needed for this recipe.
Overnight rice are the best (I cooked on the same day, but I left it in the chillier for 2-3 hours) to yield dry rice. Of course, fresh prawns are key too.
* To get that wok hei (literally breath of wok in Cantonese) to yield slighlty charred rice and smoky taste – turn up fire to high heat after adding rice to the wok.

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