Name: Fried rice with crab, egg and cucumber
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 80 ml vegetable oil (1/3 cup); 3 eggs, lightly beaten; 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 600 gm cooked jasmine rice (380gm uncooked); 2 tbsp light soy sauce (preferably Healthy Boy; see note); 1 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste; Large pinch of caster sugar; 30 gm dried shrimp (see note), soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained; 150 gm crab meat; 3 spring onions, thinly sliced; Ground roasted chilli flakes, thinly sliced cucumber and lime wedges, to serve

Fried rice with crab, egg and cucumber

As we count down to our 50th anniversary, we're taking a look back at old recipes. This fried rice dish - a classic comfort food - was inspired from our July-August 1966 issue.

Serves 4

Prep

10M

Cook

10M

Total

20M

Fried rice is comfort food at its finest. Here, we salute this enduring classic.

Fried rice is comfort food at its finest and we salute this enduring classic as we count down to our 50th anniversary.

“Things were simpler back in the day” is a common refrain and in the case of a fried rice recipe in our July-August 1966 issue, these words ring true. Note the brevity of the ingredients list and the succinct method. In fact, all the recipes in this Chinese feature are on the short side, perhaps reflecting the limited access to Asian ingredients back in the day.

Over the past five decades, we’ve published many recipes for fried rice – an all-time favourite – including an ultra-simple mushroom version by the team behind Lau’s Family Kitchen in Melbourne’s St Kilda and a Thai-flecked rendition with snake beans, baby corn, fish sauce and lime juice from Louis Tikaram at LA hotspot EP & LP.

Our expert on Asian food, Tony Tan, has shared the Yangzhou version chock-full of prawns, chicken, barbecue pork, peas and egg and finished with sesame oil, and our food editor Lisa Featherby delivered this luxe crab-flecked masterpiece finished with spring onions and roasted chilli flakes in a recent issue. This is comfort food at its finest – an enduring classic.

Ingredients

80 ml vegetable oil (1/3 cup)

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

600 gm cooked jasmine rice (380gm uncooked)

2 tbsp light soy sauce (preferably Healthy Boy; see note)

1 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste

Large pinch of caster sugar

30 gm dried shrimp (see note), soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained

150 gm crab meat

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

Ground roasted chilli flakes, thinly sliced cucumber and lime wedges, to serve

Method

Main

1.Heat a wok over high heat until very hot, add 1 tbsp oil and eggs, and stir until eggs are scrambled and dry (1-2 minutes). Remove from pan and set aside.

2.Add remaining oil and garlic to pan and stir-fry until just golden (20 seconds; be careful not to let garlic burn or it will turn bitter), then add rice and egg and stir-fry to combine and warm through (1-2 minutes). Add sauces, sugar and a large pinch of ground white pepper, stir-fry to combine, then check and adjust seasoning. Add shrimp and crab meat, stir-fry to combine, then stir in spring onion. Scatter fried rice with chilli flakes, and serve with cucumber slices and lime wedges.

Healthy Boy soy sauce and dried shrimp are available from Asian grocers.NOTE When you’re cooking rice, it’s always handy to make extra to use for fried rice the following day. It’s one of the quickest and easiest of meals. Cooked rice will keep in the fridge for two days.
Drink Suggestion: Crisp young riesling
Notes