3shares
Share
Pin
Email
Sub

Coconut Rice with sauteed shrimps is easy to make yet the finesse of this dish is remarkable. Again, Thai cuisine has given the world a simple dish that is simply finger-licking.

I’m absolutely happy that I started testing Asian recipes in my kitchen. I came out of my comfort zone in terms of cooking and luckily I discovered a lot of fast-preparing, healthy and delicious recipes with rice. The new to me combinations of ingredients are so perfectly balanced that it makes me angry I spent ⅓ of my life without eating and enjoying it. Today, I cross my heart, I adore the Asian-specific ingredients like coconut milk, curry powder and rice in all its forms.

Ingredients for coconut rice and sauteed shrimps with garlic

This scented and fluffy rice along with the colorful shrimps will bring joy to the ones at the table. But, there’s a price for everything. To have this madly delicious meal you have to spend your money on some delicious ingredients. However, the budget spent on this dish will be justified with every and each bite you will take.

Ingredients for the coconut rice:

Thai rice
Coconut milk
Water
Coconut flakes

Ingredients for the sauteed shrimps:

Shrimps and/or prawns
Garlic
Lime
Lemon
Butter
Chilli flakes
Salt

How to make coconut rice?

Coconut milk is simply divine when added to rice dishes. It creates a perfect sauce and the texture of the rice changes completely. The only fat the rice receives is from the coconut milk and it is more than enough for it to get the extraordinary smooth texture.

Coconut rice is comforting delicious, perfect for this season. It takes little time to be cooked from the beginning to the end and is a rich source of carbohydrates.

You need a pot to make the coconut rice. Pour 1:1 ratio water and coconut milk, if you want it to be thicker, you can skip the water. Then add the rice, it has to be half the quantity of the liquids. That means that if you have 500ml of liquid, you shall pour 250g of rice. That is a 2:1 ratio, two parts of liquid (water and coconut milk) to one part of rice.

Put everything to a boil for about 18 minutes at low heat, or follow the rice cooking instructions on the package. While it is soaking the coconut milk, prepare a large pan to toast the coconut flakes.

How to toast coconut flakes?

Why toast coconut flakes and mix it with the fluffy coconut rice? Because the crunchiness of the toasted flakes in combination with the fine rice soaked in coconut milk will simply blow your mind.

Take a large pan and put it to heat. When it gets hot, add the flakes. Stir continuously because it gets brown right away. When the color changed from white to golden, take the pan away from the stove. Now you have toasted coconut flakes.

When the rice is ready, set aside for about 10 minutes, let it cool down a little. Then, add the toasted coconut flakes and gently mix. The aroma is somewhere around gentle and sweet. Cover everything with a lid and start preparing the delicious shrimps sauteed in garlic.

How to cook shrimps with garlic?

First, clean the shrimps. That means peeling them (up to the tail, or entirely), and removing the black vein from the back. Then, to be sure youțve taken out the unnecessary, wash the shrimps under running water. If you don’t like this process of cleaning the shrimps you can buy already peeled shrimps. Just make sure they’re raw, do not buy pre-cooked shrimps. I don’t like the pre-cooked shrimps because you miss half of their taste and aroma. Plus, there’s a bigger chance you’ll overcook them and get hard, bland shrimps.

Take as many garlic cloves as you like, I sure know I like much garlic in my sauteed shrimps. The flavor it gives to the fat-free meat is amazing. That being said, peel the garlic cloves and crush them with the knife blade, then chop in small pieces. You’ll need it in a few minutes.

Going on, heat a large pan and add the olive oil or the butter. When it gets hot, throw in the chopped garlic and add the chili flakes. Even if you are not a spicy food fan, in this case, the chilly flakes will balance the sweetness of the coconut rice. Let everything simmer for a few seconds to up to 1 minute at medium heat.

When the garlic and chili aroma wraps everything around, add the shrimps to the pan and sprinkle the juice of half of a lime and some chopped parsley. Season with salt. Roast the shrimps until they are done, that is about 4 minutes. The color has to change to light pink and the shrimps should be similar to the letter “C”. Do not overcook the shrimps, this way they harden and you lose the juiciness and the finesse of the meat.

Now remove the prawns from the stove because you will shortly combine it with the fluffy coconut rice.

How to serve the coconut rice with sauteed shrimps?

Take a large bowl, pour in the rice with toasted coconut flakes, then top it with the flavorful shrimps with all its garlic-scented sauce. Serve it with hot chili pepper and with halves of lime for extra sourness. Bon appetit!