Most of the rice dishes that I feature on my blog require fresh-made rice. When I make fresh rice, I usually make much more than necessary so that I have cold leftover rice to use another day. The cold leftover rice works great to make fried rice, which is today’s quick and easy recipe.

Today I am making Thai basil fried rice with shrimp. I’ve enjoyed this dish at Thai restaurants and came to like it a lot. I figured out how to make it on my own – at least my own personal version – and what’s great is that it doesn’t take long to make. Plus your whole family will like it.

The key ingredients include basil, fish sauce, and oyster sauce. You should be able to find these in most grocery stores. The best basil to use for this is Thai basil (holy or regular). If you can’t get either of those, you can use regular basil, but use only half a cup and tear it into small pieces.

This dish is a wonderful way to use leftover rice. Instead of shrimp you can make this with chopped-up ham or tofu. If you want some extra spice, top it with some fresh sliced red chilis before serving.

Ingredients

Eggs

• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 3 medium eggs
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp. fish sauce

Shrimp

• 3/4 lbs. extra large shrimp (10-12), peeled, deveined, and tail intact
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper powder
• 1 tsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. thinly sliced green onion

Fried rice

• 4 tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, small diced
• 2 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 cup peas and carrots, thawed
• 4 cups cooked day old white rice
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/8 tsp. salt or more to taste
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil

Instructions

Eggs

Beat all eggs ingredients except for the oil in a small bowl, then heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Working in two batches, using 1/2 tbsp. of oil at a time, cook the eggs like a thin pancake. Once the egg is cooked, remove it from the pan, cool until touchable, roll the egg pancake into logs, thinly slice, and set aside. See pictures for process.

Shrimp

Mix all shrimp ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Fried rice

Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in large wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes, stirring a few times or until the shrimp is cooked. Transfer the cooked shrimp to a bowl or plate with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok, then add the onion and garlic. Fry these for 2-3 minutes. Add the rice, peas, carrots, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and salt in next. Toss and stir together, then cook until everything heated through.

Finally, add most of the eggs (leaving some for garnish), shrimp, basil, and green onion. Gently mix all the ingredients together and taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat.

Transfer the fried rice to a serving dish and serve topped with the strips of eggs and a few basil leaves!

Serves 4-6

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!