FRIED CAULI RICE WITH SHRIMP

Serves 4–6 Fried rice used to be a favorite in our house, but we don’t eat rice anymore. Luckily, instead of rice you can use cauliflower. Once you have rice, you might as well fry it! The cauliflower rice is just as tasty as anything you could get delivered by a Chinese restaurant, so we like to serve ours on Friday nights before we watch a family movie or play games. INGREDIENTS • 1 head of cauliflower • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) salt • 2 Tbsp olive oil or lard • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 1 lb (454 g) shrimp, peeled to the tail • 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges • 1 small tomato, cut into 8 wedges • 2 eggs • 1½ Tbsp fish sauce • 1½ Tbsp coconut aminos • ½ tsp ground pepper INSTRUCTIONS AND HOW KIDS CAN HELP 1. Pulse cauliflower into rice-sized pieces in food processor. 2. Microwave cauliflower for three minutes. Ta-da! This is the recipe for Cauliflower Rice! 3. Sprinkle rice with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) salt and set aside for at least 15 minutes. 4. Strain out excess water from cauliflower with colander, strainer, or cheesecloth. 5. Heat oil (or lard) over medium-high heat in a wok or large pan, cook garlic for a minute until it starts to brown. 6. Add shrimp, onion, and tomato and stir for two minutes. 7. Create an empty space in middle of wok (about a 4-inch-diameter void) and crack eggs into it; stir to scramble. 8. When egg is cooked, add cauliflower rice and keep stirring until everything is heated through and shrimp is pink on all sides. 9. Add fish sauce, aminos, and pepper and stir to combine before removing from heat.

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Fried cauli rice with shrimp delivers all the Friday-night takeout flavor we love — garlic, fish sauce, coconut aminos — with cauliflower standing in for rice. The trick is salting and draining the riced cauliflower so it fries instead of steaming. It has become our family movie-night tradition.

Pro Tips

• After pulsing the cauliflower to rice-sized pieces and microwaving it for three minutes, sprinkle it with the salt and let it sit at least 15 minutes, then press out the water through a colander or cheesecloth — dry rice is the difference between fried and soggy.
• Cook the garlic in the hot oil for a minute before anything else goes in; that flavored oil seasons the whole wok.
• Push everything aside and crack the eggs into the empty space in the middle of the wok, scrambling them right there before stirring them through.
• Add the fish sauce and coconut aminos at the very end, just before the pan comes off the heat, so they stay fragrant.
• The shrimp are done when pink on all sides — pull the pan then, because they toughen fast.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make the cauliflower rice for this recipe?

Pulse raw florets in a food processor until rice-sized, then microwave for three minutes. That's your cauliflower rice, ready to salt, drain, and fry.

Why salt the cauli rice and wait 15 minutes?

The salt draws out the water; straining it off keeps the finished dish from going watery and lets the cauliflower toast in the hot oil instead.

Is fried cauli rice with shrimp soy-free?

Yes — coconut aminos replace soy sauce and fish sauce adds the deep savory note, so there's no soy anywhere in the pan.

How many people does this serve?

Four to six, depending on whether it's the whole meal or one dish in a bigger spread.

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