Boxing Day Prawn Fried Rice with Sriracha

Method

1. Take the rice out of the fridge and break up the clumps with wet hands.
2. Pat the prawns dry with paper towel and halve any large ones lengthways.
3. Chop the garlic and grate the ginger.
4. Slice the spring onions, keeping the green tops in a separate pile.
5. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
6. Put a wok or your widest frying pan over the highest heat until it is faintly smoking.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and swirl it up the sides.
8. Pour in the eggs and leave them for 10 seconds before scrambling them into loose curds.
9. Tip the egg onto a board and cut it into short strips.
10. Add the remaining oil to the empty wok and bring it back to smoking.
11. Fry the garlic, ginger and the white parts of the spring onion for about 20 seconds, until they smell sweet.
12. Add the rice and press it flat against the base of the wok.
13. Leave it undisturbed for a minute so the underside toasts.
14. Toss the rice, press it flat again and repeat twice more.
15. Add the frozen peas and toss until they are hot through.
16. Pour the soy sauce down the hot sides of the wok rather than onto the rice.
17. Add the sriracha and toss until every grain carries a little colour.
18. Return the egg to the wok with the prawns.
19. Toss for 30 to 45 seconds, until the prawns are just steaming, then take the wok off the heat.
20. Stir through the sesame oil and the green spring onion tops.
21. Scatter the chilli garlic salt flakes over the top.
22. Serve with lime wedges and the sriracha bottle on the table.

If the prawns went yesterday

Diced leftover roast chicken or ham goes in at the same point and gets the same 30 to 45 seconds. We sell neither, though our page on twelve things to do with leftover Christmas ham covers the rest of that leg. For a vegetarian version, leave the seafood out entirely, double the eggs and add the peas earlier so they take on some colour.

The seasoning has room to move as well. A tablespoon of yuzu, ginger and miso marinade in place of the soy and the fresh ginger takes the bowl sharper and more savoury, and the sriracha still goes in. If some of the table does not want chilli, keep the bottle off the heat and put it out instead, so one wok still feeds a five year old.

Questions about the leftovers

Can you reheat cooked prawns?

Yes, once and quickly. Cooked prawns are reheated rather than cooked, so they want the shortest possible time in the pan, but they still need to get properly hot rather than lukewarm, which is where the risk sits. Thirty to 45 seconds tossed through rice at full heat does both. Reheat leftovers once only, and do not send what is left back to the fridge for a third round.

How long do cooked prawns keep in the fridge?

About three days from purchase, in a fridge at or below 5°C, kept airtight on the coldest shelf rather than in the door. Prawns that came off a platter keep two to three days provided they went back in the fridge within two hours of coming out. Anything that sat out longer than four hours goes in the bin, however good it looks, and the shell is worth leaving on until you need them because it stops the meat drying out.

Why does fried rice need cold rice?

Because chilling changes the starch. Rice refrigerated overnight is firmer and drier at the surface, so the grains separate instead of sticking and the pan fries them rather than steaming them. Warm rice carries too much moisture, drops the heat of the wok the moment it lands, and gives you a soft, gluey bowl. Day-old rice, broken up with wet hands, is the whole technique.

The sriracha is a $6.95 bottle from SIAM Thai, and the shelf it comes from is in sauces and mixes. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post, and shipping is free Australia-wide over $100. If you would rather not cook at all, Christmas food for people who are not cooking is the no-heat version, prawn linguine with Calabrian chilli pesto is the pasta answer to the same leftovers, and the Christmas hampers take next year's shopping off your hands.