Also, no longer are my kids rushing to the kitchen to be the first to plate their dinner while steaming hot. No longer is G hovering behind my shoulder waiting to see what I whipped up. Instead, now, all are patiently waiting on the table for my plating, styling, and photographing to be done. Instead, now, all are helping with the process, clearing the surfaces, assisting, and creatively commenting. We are not so resentful about eating our meals warm, instead of piping hot anymore. Food blogging has really changed not only me, but all of us. LOL!


Now back to this dish ... we are all big fans of Thai cuisine at home. Curries, Pad Thai and Tom Yum make frequent appearances on our table. And having made pineapple fried rice many many many times, I am now trying a vegan twist to it. Why? Coz there are three kids who are going vegan at home. And I say going because they are not there yet ... not totally vegan yet. Mostly vegan. About 90% vegan. And me? About 70% vegan. It would be 80% were it not for the requirement of dairy in my morning coffee. So yes, we're all heading in that direction. And as my most-vegan daughter pointed out, most every dish can be substituted to make it vegan. So I gave it a shot, it worked. It was fabulous. And here it is ... our pineapple fried rice - veganized! Yaaay!


Ingredients:
4 cups chilled cooked rice (measured at 2 cups uncooked)
2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup chopped shallots
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp miso
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
2 cups chopped cooked tofu
1/2 cup frozen vegetables (peas, carrots)
1/2 cup chopped pineapple chunks
1/4 cup raisins

To serve:
1/2 cup toasted cashew halves
Cilantro sprigs

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a wok or a fry pan and stir fry the shallots, garlic, and ginger until fragrant.
2. In the meantime, prepare the sauce: mix miso, soy sauce, vegetable stock, curry powder and sugar. Set aside.

3. To the pan, add the cooked tofu pieces, frozen vegetables, and pineapple chunks, cook until vegetables have softened.
4. Pour sauce mix into pan, coating the tofu and vegetables.

5. Stir in the rice, a cup at a time, breaking up large chunks if any. Taste and adjust if more sugar and a bit of salt is needed.
6. Fold in the raisins, and start plating or dishing out.
7. Garnish with cashews and cilantro sprigs. And maybe fried shallots if you have them.

Unlike baking, stovetop cooking is not chemistry. I can just eyeball the ingredients and voila... even when I don't get it perfectly measured out, we still have a great dish.





























I didn't actually measure the ingredients in this recipe, but memory serves me well, so here goes:

Ingredients:
8 cups chilled cooked rice (measured at 4 cups uncooked)
3 tbsp oil
3/4 cup chopped shallots
4 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped ginger
3 tbsp chopped red/green chillies
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup fish sauce
4 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
2 cups chopped chicken
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped raisins
1/2 cup frozen vegetables (peas, carrots)
2 cups pineapple chunks
1/2 cup toasted cashew halves
Sprinkling of fried shallots
Coriander leaves to serve

Directions:
1. Stir fry shallots, garlic, ginger and chillies in oil until fragrant.
2. In the meantime, prepare sauce, mixing stock, fish sauce, curry powder and sugar. Set aside.
3. Add chicken to the pan, stirring till done. Then stir in the eggs.
4. Pour sauce mix into pan.
5. Fold in rice. Adjust seasoning.
6. Add raisins and frozen vegetables, then pineapple chunks.
7. Add cashews.
8. Garnish with fried shallots and coriander leaves.

I may not have been a chef at the palace, but this is pretty darned tasty for me!

Oh.. and serve in a pineapple boat for added flair. Although I've made this twice before, I'm still waiting for that picture perfect dished out snapshot.