Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice
If your mouth was throwing a party, fresh pineapple, curry powder, and sticky rice would be the superstars on the invite list. I love EVERYTHING about those three. Combine them together AND I won’t stop eating until either my stomach bursts or I run out of food. Whichever comes first.
Remember our heart to heart about rice in my Steak Stir-fry recipe? Let me put my hands on your shoulders just in case I need to shake you in a minute. Sticky rice is the only way to go. Not only will it make you look like a master chopstick user, but the quality is MILES above the rest.
Just to make sure you don’t get mushy instead of sticky, I suggest buying rice in packaging you can’t read because it’s all in characters. I really like the Homai brand at Costco. Here are a couple of Amazon’s top picks. I’m actually excited to try the Tamanishiki. It sounds legit! It’s worth investing in some quality rice.
I lived in Taiwan for 18 months over 8 years ago. Even though time has past, my mouth has a great memory.
How could it forget juice running down my chin after gracefully (HA!) biting into a fresh mango?
Or the creamy peanut butter that resembled dessert more than a nut butter? Seriously… why does Taiwan’s taste so much better than ours?
BUT, one of my most favorite dishes was pineapple fried rice. Let’s just say I don’t think 99% of Taiwan’s ‘restaurants’ would pass FDA’s safety laws. You purchase most meals from street food vendors. The tried and tested method for preventing food contamination was having a fan turned on high with a couple strings attached in order to scare away flies. On more than one occasion while waiting for my food, I watched the chef drop the knife on the street, pick it up, and continue preparing my meal. Did I still eat the food? You bet! Did I ever get sick? Not once. Hmmm…. I think it’s time we re-addressed our FDA laws.
So back to the fried rice. There was a vendor just a short bike ride away (oh, did I mention I rode a bike the entire time. AND in a skirt!). They made THE best pineapple sausage fried rice. Crunchy vegetables, juicy pineapple, tender sausage, and of course perfect rice.
Well, you can take this girl out of Taiwan, but you can’t take the Taiwan out of this girl. With a little tweak here and a little tweak there, I nailed this recipe! The only thing lacking was that I didn’t have enough flies flying around my kitchen. Shame.
Before I go, one last tip. I’m head over heels for Al Fresco chicken sausage. I’m not an affiliate or sponsor… I just love them! I use them in several recipes like my Easy Sausage, Potato, and Carrot Stew and my Chicken Sausage and Rice Soup. My favorite flavors for this recipe is Sweet Italian Style and Chipotle Chorizo with Mango.
Anyway, go and enjoy!
Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 2 12 oz chicken, turkey, or lean pork linked sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 3 large organic carrots peeled and diced
- 1 large red bell pepper washed and diced
- 2 tsp yellow curry powder
- 4 cups fresh pineapple cut into small chunks
Instructions
- In a large frying pan, bring water, salt, and pepper to a boil. Add rice, cover, reduce to simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile in another large frying pan over medium heat, heat olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes. Add sausage. While stirring frequently, brown sausage for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add onion and carrots. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then add bell peppers. Cook only until bell peppers are slightly tender (about another 3 to 4 minutes).
- Add curry powder and pineapple chunks. Mix well.
- Remove from heat. Add cooked rice and mix well. Serve and enjoy!
Wow! My mouth is watering at your description of this dish (and i also feel like I’m in Taiwan!). I totally agree with you about sticky rice. My husband is always trying to get me to make it so the grains don’t stick together, but I so prefer the texture of sticky. I just stumbled upon your blog, btw, and I totally agree with the premise of no diets. We can stay as healthy as we want to be by being aware of what we eat and having treats in moderation. I’m looking forward to reading more 🙂
x Sam
Sam… love you already! Thank you for your kind comment. SO grateful to have another sticky rice lover among us and also someone who gets the value of healthy living. Please come back often!