Shrimp and Pineapple Stir Fry Bowl is a party for the palate!
January seems to be “bowl” month at the Bennett House. I find myself making all sorts of bowl food for dinner. On occasion it shows up for lunch like my Easy Spicy Chicken Vegetable and Rice Bowl or my Spring Roll Bowl.
After the hectic pace of the holiday season, a warm bowl of nourishing ingredients feels perfect for this winter season.
And just because it’s in a bowl, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. I adore pairing shrimp with the vibrant, tropical flavor of pineapple. It makes a lovely sort of Ying and Yang all in one meal.
The shrimp is pan-seared for extra flavor and then added to fresh peppers, onions, garlic, ginger and herbs and then combined with diced pineapple. When it’s served over the stir fried rice and topped with fresh cilantro, it tastes like sunshine in a bowl. Just what we need here in the Pacific Northwest during mid-winter.
I have to admit, the first time I tested my Shrimp and Pineapple Stir Fry Bowl I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it. I like shrimp, but sometimes it takes a lot of additional fresh ingredients to dress up the sometimes bland flavor of shrimp.
It’s not like shrimp is spectacular in taste on it’s own, like crab or lobster. That doesn’t mean shrimp can’t be delicious. It just means when using shrimp as a main ingredient in a recipe, it’s got to be highly seasoned, marinated, grilled or pan seared in good ole fashioned ghee for optimum flavor. Getting a good sear on a well-seasoned shrimp makes for one delicious shrimp meal.
There are a lot of shrimp options out there but I have to tell you, quality matters. I buy only fresh (or flash frozen), wild brown or pink shrimp from either the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific. But there are additional excellent options from other locations around the world. Check out Seafood Watch for all your best shrimp options.
In the middle of winter this Shrimp and Pineapple Stir Fry Bowl tastes like a lovely reprieve and a glowing vision of the new seasons to come.
I hope your New Year is off to a great start! I’ll leave you with a little something humorous, because it totally made me laugh out loud. “I’ve decided my 2019 will start on February 1st. January is a free trial month”. ~word porn from Instagram. Seriously, my year started out with me and a box of tissues on my sofa. So I love this idea! 🙂
Delicious Wishes and Loads of Love!
Karista
Shrimp and Pineapple Stir Fry Bowl
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari
- ¼ cup apricot preserves
- 1 tablespoon Asian chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
For the Shrimp
- 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
- 1-pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
For the Fried Rice
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or ghee
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or ghee
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1 ½ cups diced fresh pineapple
- 2 cups cooked white rice, cooled
For the Garnish
- ½ cup thinly sliced green
Instructions
- 1. In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, preserves, chili garlic sauce, rice wine vinegar and corn starch. Set aside.
- 2. In a wok or skillet, heat the ghee over medium high heat. When the ghee is hot, add half the shrimp in a single layer. Be sure not to over crowd the pan or the shrimp won’t brown. Cook for about one minute and then flip the shrimp to the other side. The shrimp should be slightly golden or pink. Remove them from the wok or the skillet and set aside.
- 3. In the same wok or skillet, add 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the red pepper and onions and sauté just until crisp tender. Remove from the wok or skillet and set aside.
- 4. In the same wok or skillet, add the last tablespoon of oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the whisked eggs and stir lightly until they are soft but not completely done. Then stir in the ginger, garlic and ¼ cup green onions. When the eggs are firm, stir the onions and peppers back into the wok or skillet and then add the pineapple and the cooled rice. Mix until nicely combined.
- 5. Keeping the wok or skillet over medium heat, add the shrimp and then the sauce. Toss lightly to combine. Once everything is heated through, season to taste with salt or additional soy sauce. 6. Garnish with the ½ cup sliced green onions and serve immediately. I like to serve this dish with Sriracha or a spicy Asian hot sauce.
Lovely fresh flavours for the middle of winter, a nice change!
This was really good! I used liquid aminos instead of the soy. I think a garnish of dry roasted peanuts and cilantro would give this another dimension of flavor. Yum! Thank you!
Hi Dana, So happy you loved the recipe! I agree some crunchy peanuts and cilantro would be delicious!