This Pineapple Fried Rice is a perfect balance of sweet and salty, and my complete admiration goes to the genius who thought of it!
I never put fresh fruit in my savory recipes (desserts are a separate thing, of course), but this pairing of pineapple’s sweetness and ham’s saltiness is just delicious.
Secrets for the Best Fried Rice
This recipe is relatively new to me, but I used my years of experience cooking up fried rice with whatever’s in the fridge to make sure this Pineapple Fried Rice turned out perfectly.
A key element to achieving the perfect fried rice is to have all the primary ingredients ready before you turn the stove on. Fried rice cooks faster than you think it will, and it’s easiest to have everything at your fingertips so you don’t throw off cooking times.
It’s also important to be mindful of the size of each ingredient. This is important to any stir-fry, which comes together quickly and in the same wok. In this case, I’m talking about the pineapple and ham.
The size of the ham chunks should be adjusted to the ham’s saltiness. If you use hard-cured ham, it’s super flavorful, but salty. Mince the ham so the saltiness is evenly distributed, and the ham flavor can shine through (rather than hitting a big salty chunk every so often).
I used breakfast ham that I found at Costco. I love it because it’s not too salty––hence the larger chunks you see in the pictures!
As for the pineapple, it’s best to cut it into ½-inch cubes. If the pineapple chunks are too big, some bites will be too sweet and overpowering. But if the pineapple chunks are too small, there will be too much pineapple juice, making the rice soggy and overly sweet.
The Perfect Levels of Salty and Sweet
Use a just-ripened pineapple for this fried rice for a crunchier texture and the right balance of sweetness.
Here is a trick I learned from my father: a pineapple is ready to eat if its sharp spikes come out easily by pulling on them with your fingers. An overly ripe pineapple is yellow instead of green, and might be too sweet for this savory fried rice.
When in doubt (or when fresh pineapple is scarce), use canned pineapple, but rinse away any juice/syrup beforehand.
Pineapple Fried Rice is a signature Thai dish, so fish sauce is a must to bring together all the flavors, adding that salty edge to balance out the pineapple, as well as umami flavor. Whatever you do, though, don’t ever put your nose to a bottle of fish sauce—just trust that it will do wonders when it’s been added to your cooking!
Pineapple Fried Rice: Recipe Instructions
First, prepare the shrimp, onion, carrot, ham/Chinese sausage, rice, peas, pineapple, and scallions.
Feel free to use canned pineapple, but, if like me, you want to use fresh pineapple, remember to trim away the pineapple core. It’s too tough for fried rice. If using canned pineapple, rinse away any syrup and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
If you’d like to serve your pineapple fried rice in a hollowed out pineapple as shown in our pictures (it IS a very festive presentation, I must say), here’s how to do it:
Remember to discard any chunks that were part of the core. After we removed the chunks shown in the photograph above, we cut them into smaller 1/2 inch pieces.
Ok, back to the recipe!
Beat 2 eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon Shaoxing wine. Heat your wok over medium heat until lightly smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil, and scramble the eggs for 1 minute—until just cooked. Turn off the heat, break the egg into small pieces, transfer to a dish, and set aside.
Heat another 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook the shrimp until they turn pink, about 1 minute.
Remove from the wok and set aside.
Heat the last 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent.
Add the diced carrots and ham, and cook until the carrots are no longer crunchy.
Add the rice and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. The steam from the wine will loosen the rice chunks!
Stir-fry everything together well, and add in the peas, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, the scrambled egg, and the cooked shrimp. Stir-fry everything together for a few minutes.
Finally, add the scallions…
And the pineapple.
Mix everything again for a minute or two. To crisp and warm the rice through, you can use your wok spatula to spread the rice in a single layer around the surface area of the wok, making use of all the heat and letting any excess liquid evaporate.
Salt to taste, and serve immediately!
Pineapple Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 8 ounces shrimp (225g, peeled, deveined, rinsed, and pat dry)
- 1 cup onion (150g, diced)
- 1/2 cup carrot (75g, diced)
- 4 ounces ham (or Chinese sausage; 115g, finely diced)
- 6 cups cooked rice (about 900g)
- 2/3 cup peas (100g)
- 1 cup pineapple (diced into 1/2-inch pieces)
- 1 scallion (chopped)
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (plus 1 tablespoon, divided)
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or Thai thin soy sauce)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
Instructions
- First, prepare the shrimp, onion, carrot, ham/Chinese sausage, rice, peas, pineapple, and scallions. If using fresh pineapple, remember to trim away the pineapple core. If using canned pineapple, rinse away any syrup and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
- Beat 2 eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon Shaoxing wine. Heat your wok over medium heat until lightly smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil, and scramble the eggs for 1 minute—until just cooked. Turn off the heat, break the egg into small pieces, transfer to a dish, and set aside.
- Heat another 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook the shrimp until they turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove from the wok and set aside.
- Heat the last 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent. Add the diced carrots and ham, and cook until the carrots are no longer crunchy. Add the rice and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. The steam from the wine will loosen the rice chunks!
- Stir-fry everything together well, and add in the peas, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, the scrambled egg, and the cooked shrimp. Stir-fry everything together for a few minutes.
- Finally, add the pineapple and scallions. Mix everything again for a minute or two. To crisp and warm the rice through, you can use your wok spatula to spread the rice in a single layer around the surface area of the wok, making use of all the heat and letting any excess liquid evaporate.
- Salt to taste, and serve immediately!
Not a good recipe for people allergic to seafood. Just because Thailand eats alot of fish sauce does not mean it has to be a staple in everyones pantry.
hahaha…you are right.
People with seafood allergies can easily replace shrimp with other proteins. You should visit a Thai Restaurant sometimes since they have options like chicken, beef, pork, and even tofu! There are also other ways to substitute fish sauce anyone can easily search online. Plus, I have not heard of Thai people ever require others to have fish sauce in their pantry.
Hi Judy,
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve been craving Thai food for a while, and I thought this recipe would help with that! I cooked it yesterday, and I’m sure your version was way better than mine because I wasn’t able to probably stir-fry since I don’t have a wok, but the results still came out great!
I added chicken breasts instead of Chinese ham, and I know it’s way different, but I wanted more “healthy” protein. The calories were obviously higher than the original recipe, but it was within my budget so… I also went to town with mirin (I didn’t have Shaoxing wine even though I live in China), and if you saw the amount of sesame oil I used, you would think I’m on a Keto diet.
Again, I wasn’t able to properly stir-fry, but it still came out amazing, and the sesame oil made this dish taste like heaven.
AGAIN!!! Thank you for sharing this. It’s a great meal prep. Next time, I should add the rice to a pineapple, and have the pineapple stand on a pizza. The ULTIMATE dish!
Next on my life: One of your kung pao chicken!
Have a wonderful day! May you, Bill, Sarah, and Kaitlin be safe and healthy.
Question: Who is the better cook? ^_-
Thank you for trying out the recipe, Dimi. As to your last question, I think we have to put it out there one of these days and ask our readers for answers :-)
This might be my favorite fried rice recipe going forward, I’m not eating any meat right now so I included the shrimp but not the ham. This turned out flavorful and super easy to make.
Love that you love this recipe, Heena! Thank you for your comment.
Another great recipe from WoL. Thanks. I added cashews to this because that is how it was served when I had it in Thailand. I just toasted a few cashews before frying the egg and topped the finished dish with them. Adds s nice texture and mild flavor of cashews compliments the other flavors of he dish. Thanks again for your blog. Tonight it will be green beans with olive vegetable (a stand by for us) and hunan steamed eggplant.
Hahahah…LOVE IT! Thank you for your wonderful comment, Rick.
Pineapple is a mainstay for us so I’ve been making a similar version of this for about 30 years. Still love it after all this time. We also like to use the pineapple to make sweet and sour sauce, rather than a tomato/ketchup based sauce.
Love your site. I’ve learned a lot the past few months.
You are very welcome, Sara! Happy wokking.
Hi
Thank you for the delicious recipe.
I do not own a non-stick pan and have a ceramic one.
I am wondering if you could offer me some tips on how to fry omelettes without sticking to the pan. They always stick to the pan and burn.
Do hope you could offer some suggestions.
Thank you!
Hi B, I will write a post about this very soon––be on the lookout!
Sounds really damn good, but would have to omit the shrimp. Not allergic, just don’t care for it. Any good non seafood alternatives?
Hi Rafterman, you can sub in chicken! :-)
Lots of work, but well worth it! Incredibly delicious. Can I make this ahead of time for a dinner party? I recognize that shrimp gets rubbery when reheated, so would it work to refrigerate all but the shrimp, and then fry and add the shrimp 10 minutes prior to serving?
I’m sorry, Blondie, this is one of those dishes that would not be great as leftovers.
This sounds delish for dinner on a warm summer evening. I have some Trader Joe’s frozen pineapple chunks in the freezer and I think that will do the job. I make big batches of Gaba rice and freeze it in individual serving sizes so I have that and I have some left-over ham. Now all I need is shrimp and tonight’s dinner is set. Thanks for the recipe. I love all your blogs and have found so many easy to prepare, tasty meals, plus lots of other useful and interesting information on your site. Keep up the good work. And have you ever thought about compiling a cook book?
Thanks again.
Marilee in Eugene, Oregon
Thank you, Marilee, we’re talking about writing a cookbook. It’s a goal! :-)
Amazing, I’d love that too.
Yeah man!! Another great fried rice recipe for my quiver of them from WoL! Cant wait to try this one Judy. I’ve been going back to do all of the WoL FR recipes since the Spam fried rice recipe was published. Every one has been a success. Unfortunately my sweetheart doesn’t do fish sauce at all, but some dark soy with some thin Thai soy has worked well in the past and I’ve no doubt it will again. Xie Xie! George
You are right, that should work too. Thank you so much for your love and support!