Our little neighborhood cooking club of three, Winnie from China, Susanne from Germany and me, got together over the weekend. Now that two of us have moved away from the neighborhood, it’s now an ex-neighborhood club, and not as convenient as walking across the cul de sac. But it’s worth the drive from anywhere! Cooking together, teaching each other new recipes, and catching up on family are a wonderful way to spend time with good friends!
Today’s recipe, Pineapple Fried Rice, is from Winnie. Using a whole fresh pineapple as the serving dish, the presentation will impress anyone! Winnie says when she serves this to her guests, they think she went through so much trouble, but actually, it’s quite simple.
The most difficult part is carving out a fresh pineapple! The core is quite hard and stubborn, but patience and diligence works wonders. My trick is to use a bread knife. The narrow blade with the serrated edge makes it a lot easier. Winne stuffed the pineapple with curry flavored rice with baby scallops and the fresh pineapple chunks that we removed earlier. Nothing goes to waste!
Now, where to get baby scallops? They can be found in the freezer section of Asian supermarkets. 
With a mild seafood flavor, they take on the curry spices quite well and mixed with pineapple, it’s slightly sweet yet savory. If you can’t find them, shrimp works just as well – Very yummy, and beautiful, so please give it a try!
- 3 rice cups short grain rice - (the cup that comes with the rice cooker is not equivalent to a US cup)
- one fresh pineapple
- 1 lb. frozen baby scallops - thawed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- oil
- We used Japanese rice in a rice cooker. Wash rice several times and drain. Usually, I was about 3-4 times until the water is clear. For fried rice we want the rice to be on the harder side so don't add as much water as usual. The usual ratio is 1:1 but add less water for this recipe. If you don't have a rice cooker, use about 2 U.S. cups of cooked rice.
- To prepare pineapple dish, first slice the top off and set aside
- Slice a section off one side of the pineapple so it can rest horizontally. Now the pineapple is stable.
- Next, slice a section off the opposite side.
- Using a serrated knife cut around the edges of the pineapple to remove the fresh pineapple to create a bowl.
- Save all the pineapple and juice in a separate bowl.
- Discard the core and chop the rest into bite size pieces
- Place the thawed baby scallops in a separate bowl.
- Add cornstarch and mix
- In a heated wok, add a table spoon of oil and cook scallops until done
- Place scallops and all the juice in a bowl and set aside
- Wash and heat the wok again.
- Add a table spoon of oil, lower the flame and add about 2 cups rice
- Fry the rice and add about ½ the fresh pineapple,
- Add 1 tablespoon curry powder. All curry powders are different, so flavor to taste. You may have to add salt if necessary. Blend well.
- Add the scallops and green onions. If you don't have the green onions, add something green to give it a contrasting color.
- Place into pineapple bowl and serve!