Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 shallots or 1 small onion (peeled and thinly sliced)
  • 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste
  • 2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
  • 1 red chilli (chopped finely)
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 heaped tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp tamarind
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree/paste
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 900 g (2 lbs) cooked long grain rice ((for best results use rice that's been cooled and refrigerated))
  • 5 spring onions ((scallions) chopped)
  • 5 eggs

Instruction

  • Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large wok or frying pan until hot.
  • Dust the shallot or onion slices in cornflour and add to the wok. Cook, for 5-6 minutes until browned and crispy, then remove from the pan and place in a bowl.
  • Turn the heat down to medium and add another 1 tbsp of oil to the wok and add in the shrimp paste, garlic and chilli. Heat for one minute until fragrant, then add in the fish sauce, brown sugar, tamarind and tomato puree and soy sauce and heat for a further minute.
  • Now add the rice to the wok and cook on a high heat. Use a spatula to ensure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, and move the rice around so that it's all getting reheated.
  • Once the rice is hot (this will take about 5 minutes), push the rice over to the side of the pan and crack one of the eggs into the space. Making sure this bit of the pan is over the heat, fry the egg, giving a mix with the spatula until the egg starts to cook and look scrambled.
  • Now mix the egg into the rice. Add the spring onions, a pinch of salt and the crispy onions and mix it all together. Reduce the heat to low.
  • Add the remaining oil to a large frying pan and heat until hot, then fry the remaining four eggs until the white is crisp at the edges, but the yolk is still runny. You can baste the egg in the hot oil to make it cook quicker.
  • Divide the rice between four bowls and top each with a fried egg, then serve. I like to serve mine with some sweet chilli sauce too.