Crawfish Fried Rice

An easy one pot meal, this spicy crawfish fried rice includes carrots and cabbage and is seasoned with garlic, ginger and chili peppers. It’s an ideal way to turn leftover rice into a tasty new delight. 

During crawfish season here in the US south, a lot of restaurants advertise boiled crawfish specials. One nearby, serving a mix of Vietnamese and American fare, did something different: crawfish fried rice. Well, you know I had to go and try it! Shout out to Hughie's! 

It was very tasty and I couldn’t wait to get home and try to make my own version. Fortunately frozen crawfish are readily available year round in the freezer section at all my local grocery stores so we don’t have to wait for crawfish season to enjoy this dish. 

My only regret is that my grandmother isn't still here so I could make it for her. She was an adventurous eater and one of her favorite restaurants in her small Louisiana town was a Chinese buffet. True story: We held the celebration of my grandparents gold anniversary (50 years of marriage) in that very restaurant. 

They had a function room so we were able to speechify and honor them but still enjoy my grandmother's favorite dishes. (And my speech was well-received and everyone laughed in the appropriate places, a boost to the young speech writer that I was.)  It was a good time! 

Crawfish Fried Rice

This recipe makes about 3-4 servings, depending on how hungry your eaters are. If you can’t find cooked, frozen crawfish where you live, substitute cooked shrimp instead. 

Ingredients

1 medium carrot

1/4 medium cabbage

4 cloves garlic

2 in or 5cm knob ginger

2 small red chili peppers

2 tablespoons canola or other light oil

5 cups or 650g day-old cold, cooked rice 

12 oz or 340g cooked crawfish tails

1 egg

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Optional: 2-3 sprigs cilantro for garnish

Method

Peel, crush and mince the garlic. Peel and mince the ginger. Finely slice the chili peppers and discard the stems. Peel or scrub the carrot and cut it into matchsticks. Core the cabbage and slice it thinly. 

In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the oyster sauce and set aside. 

Heat canola oil in wok or a large non-stick skillet. Add in the garlic, ginger and chili peppers. 

Cook for a minute or two and then add in the carrot. 

Cook another two minutes and push the ingredients to the sides of the pan. Pour in the egg and cook stirring until the egg is done and it’s in small curds. 

Stir everything together again then add the crawfish.  

Cook on high heat for 30 seconds then add the rice. 

Stir well to combine the rice with the other ingredients, then add the sliced cabbage.

Cook until the rice starts to get crispy then pour in the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and sesame oil. Stir again to combine. 

Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes made with rice as a central ingredient. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe. Check out the link list below.

• Crawfish Fried Rice from Food Lust People Love
• Insalata da Riso from Pandemonium Noshery
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Palak Rice from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Pork Stir Fry Skillet from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Quick Shrimp Fried Rice with Peas and Carrots from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Spanish Rice from Palatable Pastime
• Split Green Moong Khichdi /Chilkewali Moong Dal Khichdi from Sneha’s Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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