Khao Pad / Vegetarian Thai Fried Rice

                         

Khao Pad is a popular Thai-style stir-fried rice dish. Traditionally, it is seasoned with a fish sauce and has meat or sea food (protein) and vegetables in it. Here, i am sharing a vegetarian version of Khao pad with loads of vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and spices. This Vegetarian Thai fried rice is vegan and gluten-free and can be easily cooked at home and that too without any fancy ingredients. It is a flavorful rice dish which has a bit of tang and a bit of spicy flavors. A hearty satisfying one-pot meal which you can enjoy with your family any day!

                                 

What is Khao Pad?

Khao pad literally translates to Stir-fried rice in Thai. It is a classic dish from Thailand where it is a very popular food that is served both in restaurants and roadside stalls . It is made using pre-cooked fragrant Jasmine rice,  a protein source which can be meat or sea food , vegetables , herbs like basil and tangy sauces (fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce). Khao pad is typically seasoned with fish sauce that gives it the characteristic flavor and differentiates it from the other stir-fried rice dishes. This stir-fried dish is cooked over high heat to give it its distinct flavor. Khao pad is spicy and tangy in taste. A flavorful wholesome meal which does not need any accompaniment. It is usually served with lemon wedges, some salad (cucumber / tomato) and a dipping sauce called mam pla prik (a fish sauce with sliced Thai chilies).

                               

What goes into my vegan version of Khao Pad? 

The Ingredients:

• Rice: Ideally, a typical Thai fried rice is made using the fragrant Jasmine rice. I have used my regular Basmati rice instead. You may use any long grain rice variety if you cannot source the Jasmine rice. Whichever rice variety you use, the most important thing that matters while making Khao pad is that the rice has to be precooked. A day old cooked rice works just perfect as it is non-sticky and thus makes a great stir-fry. If you cook the rice on the same day, make sure it cools down completely and preferably is refrigerated at least for an hour before making this stir-fry.I have made the rice early in the morning and made the stir fry late in the afternoon as I usually do not have so much of left-over rice.
• Mushrooms: I have used white button mushrooms which add a lovely earthy flavor to the dish.
• Vegetables: I have used colored bell peppers, french beans, broccoli, sweetcorn, carrots and spring onions which make the dish delicious, wholesome and appealing. You may use whatever vegetables are readily available with you.
• Lemon Juice: Khao pad is a tangy spicy rice. Lemon juice is added to the dish towards the end.
• Sauces: I have used Sriracha sauce, soy sauce and tomato sauce.
• Herbs: Lemon grass stalks add a very refreshing and aromatic flavor and aroma to the dish. 
• Ginger and Garlic: Freshly minced ginger garlic add a wonderful taste to the dish. 
• Thai red chilies: Khao pad is typically made using Bird's eye Thai red chilies which are fiery hot and pungent. If you do not have it, you may use any spicy green chili variety instead.
• Black pepper: I add freshly ground black pepper to the Khao pad just before serving and believe me it adds a wonderful taste.
• Sugar: I have used just a teaspoon of sugar. I would recommend the use of a bit of sweetener, either sugar or jaggery as it balances the flavors very well without making the dish sweet in taste.
• Salt: Be careful while adding salt to this stir fry as the precooked rice has salt and also the sauces are fairly salty. Add salt that is just enough for the veggies.
• Oil: Use any neutral cooking oil.

                                             

Dietary Notes:

• Vegetarian Rice Dish
• Thai Cuisine
• Vegan 
• Gluten-Free
• Dairy-free
• Healthy

Related Events: 

Asian Foodie Delights @FoodieMondayBlogHop

Asian Foodie Delights is theme for the 271 th week on our Facebook gourmet group, Foodie Monday Blog Hop. Here, a bunch of passionate food bloggers share their culinary skills every Monday, depending on a pre-determined theme. Priya who blogs at ThePhotowali.wordpress.com was our hostess for the week and among the two themes she proposed, Asian Foodie Delights won with maximum votes. Priya suggested that we come out of our comfort zones and try to share a dish that is from Pan Asian Cuisine but not from our own Country. She wanted us to explore the other Cuisines from the Pan Asian countries. Priya's blog itself is a home to many delicious and easily doable recipes from both Indian Cuisine as well as from around the globe. In fact, i got the inspiration to try out this Thai-style fried rice also from her Khao Phad  post. I always refrained myself from cooking typical Thai dishes owing to the unavailability of specific ingredients used in that Cuisine. It was only through Priya's posts, did i realize that we can create Thai dishes at home with the locally available ingredients and that too without compromising on the taste. Her Low-oil Thai green curry is next on my to-do list.

This Khao Pad (Vegetable Thai Fried Rice) recipe is also featured in the A to Z recipe challenge group, where I post every month with a key ingredient having a particular alphabet. Going by the alphabetical order, for the month of November, we have to cook a dish starting with the alphabet 'R'. I chose rice as my key ingredients and made this flavorful Thai-style vegetable stir-fried rice. This is my 16th contribution towards this groupThe other recipes, i have shared here so far are

• Mexican One Pot Quinoa for alphabet "Q"
  
• Potato Cheese Sandwich for alphabet "P"
  
• Bhindi Do Pyaza - Okra stir-fry with Onions for alphabet "O"
  
• Baked Nigella Seed Crackers for alphabet "N"
  
• Kadhai Mushroom for alphabet"M"
  
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies for alphabet "L"
  
• Minestrone Soup with Kidney beans for alphabet "K"
  
• Aliv Kheer / Garden Cress seeds Jaggery Pudding  for alphabet "J"
  
• Ivy Gourd Stir-Fry for alphabet "I"
  
• Horse Gram Idli / Kulthi Idli for alphabet "H"
  
• Punjabi Kadhi Pakora / Gram flour fritters in Yogurt Gravy for alphabet "G"
• Ankurit Methichi Usal / Sprouted Fenugreek seeds Stir-Fry for alphabet "F"
  
• Achari Baingan / Eggplant in Pickling Spices for alphabet "E"
  
• Dates and Walnut Muffins for alphabet "D"
  
• Coconut Curry Leaves Chutney for alphabet "C"
  
• Broccoli Paneer Paratha for alphabet "B"
  

                                                  

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes (does not include the time needed for cooking the rice)

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 1 cup = 240 ml

• 3 cups pre-cooked Jasmine rice ( i used around 1 1/2 cups of Basmati rice to yield this quantity)
• 1/4 cup broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
• 3-4 french beans, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, roughly shredded or grated
• 1/2 cup colored bell peppers, deseeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup spring Onions whites, chopped
• Spring onion greens for garnishing
•  A stalk of lemon grass, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup
• 1-2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 3-4 Thai Bird's eye red chilies or as per spice tolerance
• 2-3 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste
  

Preparation:

1. Rinse the rice thoroughly and boil in enough water until 90% cooked. Drain and allow the rice to cool down completely. Preferable use a day old rice. (Since, i usually do not have any leftovers, i cooked the rice early in the morning and made the stir-fry late in the afternoon, so my rice could cool down completely. I cooked the rice in a pressure cooker with 2 whistles as usual for this recipe). 
2. Prep all the veggies and keep ready ( peel and grate the carrots, finely chop the french beans, thaw the frozen sweet corn, rinse and chop the Broccoli head into florets, clean and chop the spring onion. Keep the green and white part separate) Also make a coarse paste of ginger, garlic and red chilies. 
3. Rinse the button mushrooms thoroughly under running water to remove all the dirt.pat them dry using a Kitchen towel. Chop off the bottom layer of the stalk and cut the Mushrooms into quarters.
4. Keep all the sauces and other ingredients handy as this stir-fry is cooked on high flame.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add lemongrass stalks to it and allow the flavors to infuse for few seconds. Next, add the spring onion whites and saute for around a minute on medium to high flame.

                                            

2. Next, add the mushrooms followed by the broccoli florets and French beans. Sprinkle little salt and stir-fry the veggies and allow them to cook a bit before adding the bell peppers, grated carrots and sweetcorn.

                                            

                                            

3. Stir-fry the veggies such that they get cooked on high flame without getting charred and should also retain a crunch in them. Over cooking of vegetables leads to the loss of their nutrients and also ruins the whole stir-fry dish. Now, lower the flame and add the crushed ginger garlic chili paste and saute for few seconds. Next, add the soy sauce, Sriracha sauce and tomato ketchup. Stir to blend all the ingredients well. Stir-fry the veggies in the sauces for around a minute.

                                            

                                           

4. Add the pre-cooked cold rice and stir-fry the whole dish on high flame until all the ingredients blend very well with each other. Add lemon juice and give a good mix. Taste the rice at this stage and add more seasonings of required. Put off the flame. 

   

                                            

                            

5. Garnish the vegetarian Khao Pad with spring onion greens and freshly ground black pepper. Serve it immediately with some salad and lemon wedge. Enjoy the flavorful Vegetarian Thai Fried Rice with your loved ones !

                                         

Recipe Notes:

• Ideally, a typical Thai fried rice is made using the fragrant Jasmine rice. I have used my regular Basmati rice instead. You may use any long grain rice variety if you cannot source the Jasmine rice.
• Preferably use pre-cooked or left-over rice. A day old rice works perfect but if your cook the rice on the same day, make sure the rice has cooled down completely so that you do not end up in a stick stir-fried rice.
• A protein source like tofu can also be added to this stir-fry. I did not have it handy so not used.
• Use any vegetable of your choice or the one that is easily available. Try to use colorful veggies as it makes the dish appealing.
• Do not over cook the veggies. The veggies should retain their crunch in this stir-fry.
• Adjust the chilies used as per your spice tolerance.
• I have used just a teaspoon of sugar. I would recommend the use of a bit of sweetener, either sugar or jaggery as it balances the flavors very well without making the dish sweet in taste.
• Be careful while adding salt to this stir fry as the precooked rice has salt and also the sauces are fairly salty. Add salt that is just enough for the veggies.
• Khao pad is typically made using Bird's eye Thai red chilies which are fiery hot and pungent. If you do not have it, you may use any spicy green chili variety instead.
• You may skip adding any ingredient that is not available. If you cannot Sriracha sauce, replace it with spicy chili sauce or simply add red chili powder.
• I personally love the refreshing flavors and aroma the lemon grass lends to this dish. However, you may skip it if you do not have it handy. 

Would Love To hear From You ! 

I hope you would love trying out this flavorful vegetarian Thai Fried Rice. If you do so, do share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the section below this post.

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See you soon with yet another healthy and delicious creation from my Kitchen. Till then take care and eat right!

Happy Cooking !

Happy Eating !

Regards

Poonam Bachhav 

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