Quick'n'easy prawn and broccoli rice
I happened to come across some fantastic raw prawns for half price the other day, so I made this for lunch with half the prawns (100g) and froze the other half. If you can, use raw ones (doesn't matter if they're frozen) as they don't get as dry and tough as pre-cooked ones. Veggie-wise, you can of course use other things like onions, peppers, aubergine, beans. But I Iove the contrast of the broccoli with the prawns.
First, measure your rice. I allow for 1/2 a tea mug of basmati rice per person - but then I'm exceptionally greedy so go with whatever you normally have! - and rinse this a few times in a sieve. Ideally you should allow the rice to soak in water for 5 mins and then rinse it again - this helps get rid of excess starch and will result in a lighter, fluffier rice
Put your rice in a small saucepan, sprinkle a bit of salt in and then cover with just enough water, say 1/2 cm above the rice - the idea is not to make the rice sticky so go easy on the water to start with. A good idea is to have some boiled water on standby so you can add a little extra if necessary (without slowing the cooking time too much)
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid and allow the rice to cook for a further 5-8 minutes. If all the water gets absorbed before the rice is cooked, add a bit of boiled water you've got nearby and keep steaming :-)
Next, chop up the broccoli, and pour some boiling water in a second small saucepan. Boil the broccoli for 4-5 minutes and set aside while cooking the prawns.
The prawns are super easy - all you need is a little pan or a wok. Heat a tablespoon of oil and chuck in some chopped ginger, garlic, chilli - whatever flavours you like with this sort of dish. After about 30 seconds of frying these ingredients, add your prawns. and toss frequently. They're done when they slightly firm up and change from grey to pink-white in colour. Add a splash of fish sauce, red chilli sauce, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar - again, whatever you have handy. I happen to have all these ingredients so threw them all in. Allow to cook for another minute or so, then add your broccoli, warm through and serve on the fluffy basmati rice with a sprinkling of sesame seeds...a super dish that takes 15 mins max from start to finish!