I’m clearly raising a family of foodies. Quite often I overhear my five children, from the four year old to the 14 year old, discussing dishes they are looking forward to eating and hoping that I will make. It won’t be long before baby Maksim also joins the conversation. This brings a satisfied grin to my face because it shows just how much they enjoy and appreciate great food and my home cooking efforts. Having said that I did hear hear them over the recent long weekend wondering aloud whether they would “….ever eat MacDonald’s again because Mum always says no…”. 

This evening’s very popular Tasty Prawn, Ginger and Fresh Vegetable Fried Rice was inspired by a request from my daughter Jana. Last Friday Jana came home raving about a fried rice recipe that one of her friends had made in a food technology lesson at school. It’s interesting how often the most simple dishes are the most popular and sought after by children. I promised to make my version this weekend and so instead of using the prawns I had purchased for an intended pasta dish, I turned them into the key flavour ingredient in the colourful meal pictured above. 

Chicken can be substituted instead of the prawns and a whole fresh chilli added to the dish at the end just before serving. I left this out because my four year old son Luka insists that chilli will bite his tongue off. At least he can taste the difference. 

Tasty Prawn, Ginger and Fresh Vegetable Fried Rice to serve 8 people generously. The quantities can be easily halved if cooking for a smaller number of eager diners. 

4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger finely grated
1 bunch of spring onions cut on the diagonal into bite sized pieces
2 carrots sliced into matchstick pieces (julienne style)
2 punnets baby corn, each sliced in half lengthwise
2 sticks celery sliced into matchsticks
2 bunches broccolini or broccoli cut into florets or bite sized pieces
2 small red capsicums cut in half and then sliced into fine, long lengths
8 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 kg Australian king prawns – this is the weight of the prawns with the shells ON. You will need to remove the heads and tails, the shells and the intestines before using in this dish. 
sea salt to taste – be careful not to over salt as the soy sauce is already salty
fresh chilli finely diced (optional) or include on the side

TIP – When cooking the veggies it is important not to overcrowd them in your wok or wide frypan. I remember Australian chef Christine Mansfield offering this piece of advice during an ABC radio interview I listened to several years ago. Overcrowding the veggies will cause them to stew rather than cook quickly. You want the veggies to retain a bit of bite and of course, their glorious vibrant colours. Using a wok or wide frypan (or in my case three) results in perfectly stir-fried ingredients. 

Step 1 – Prepare the rice using either a rice cooker or via the stove top absorption method of 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water. I used 3 cups of long grain rice for the recipe above. Wash the raw rice under cold water using a colander. Add to a pot placed over a medium flame which has a splash of olive oil and stir until the grains turn opaque. Add the required amount of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 12 minutes. Fluff up with a fork when ready.  

Step 2 – In either a wok or frypan, heat the olive oil over a medium setting and add the garlic, ginger and spring onions. Fry for just over a minute, stirring to prevent sticking, until the flavours are released. 

The garlicky-ginger veggies would make an excellent side dish to juicy barbecued steak or firm fleshed fish.  


Step 3 – Add the carrots, baby corn and celery and toss in the pan/wok for 2 minutes, coating with the garlicky mixture. Add the broccolini and capsicums and stir-fy for another 2 minutes. Just before removing from the heat splash over the soy sauce. Scrape into a large, wide serving bowl. 

Step 4 – Splash a little more oil into the wok/pan and cook the prawns for 2 minutes on each side. Season with sea salt to taste. Once cooked add to the veggie mixture. 

Step 5 – Add the the cooked rice and toss through gently to combine all the ingredients. Call the troops to dinner and watch the lot disappear…fast! 



I’m now going to curl up, laptop at the ready to watch the World Cup highlights from this morning’s match between Chile and Australia. I only caught the beginning of the game before heading out to school basketball with Jana. Now all I need to do is decide on which bit of baking bliss to accompany my cup of tea – a moist chocolate brownie or cinnamon scented coconut banana muffins… perhaps a bite of both!