One-Pot Shrimp and Coconut Rice by Erica

Ever since I was a teen, I’ve loved Thai cuisine. I remember going to a missionary theater dinner where I had pad Thai for the first time. I’m pretty sure I was skeptical about all the strange ingredients featured in Thai cuisine (baby corn and coconut milk seemed an odd pairing), but it turned out to be delicious! After that, I was hooked on eating and cooking Thai-inspired meals.

The inspiration for this particular recipe came from my sister. One of her signature dishes is coconut rice with chicken and mushrooms. I loved the flavor combo, so of course I wanted to put my own spin on it.

 
 

Man, just seeing these ingredients laid out gets me excited!

This one-pot meal contains more ingredients than some of my previous easy weeknight meals. But trust me: they’re so worth it! They each play an important flavor or texture role. The lime, bell pepper, jalapeño, and cilantro lend a freshness to this dish. The shrimp and mushrooms give that savory umami flavor. Fish sauce helps to season the rice, and it also adds that great funky fermented flavor. The rice provides the starch, and the maple syrup (which I forgot to add to this photo) sweetens up the whole dish a bit.

Let’s get into the (simple) cooking process.

 
 

First off, cook the shrimp with some garlic and ginger. Remove to a plate.

Next, sauté the red pepper to your preferred doneness (I like mine tender-crisp, Reuben likes his completely soft). Remove to the plate with the shrimp.

Sauté the shiitake mushrooms for a few minutes.

Add the coconut milk and water.

 
 

Now stir in the rice, salt, fish sauce, and maple syrup. Bring to a simmer.

 
 

Cover, turn the heat to low, and let it be for 20 minutes or until the rice is completely tender.

 
 

Return the shrimp and peppers to the pot. Add the cilantro, and squeeze in the lime juice.

Yes, I realize that my thumbnail is longer than my pointer-finger nail. I win at manicures (not!).

 
 

Look at all those flavorful ingredients!

 
 

Now stir ’em all together. It’s at this point that I usually get super excited and impatient to eat.

 
 

But first you must garnish with jalapeños, pretty cilantro leaves, and extra fish sauce and/or lime juice.

 
 

Ok, now you can go to town and devour it. You can force yourself to eat slower if you use chopsticks even if you aren’t super skilled. I speak from experience.

 
 

Notes:

• As always, you can substitute any veggies that you prefer or have on hand. You could use carrots, baby corn, bok choy, etc. If you can’t get your hands on shiitake mushrooms, you can substitute baby bella or even button mushrooms. The flavor won’t be as punchy, though.
• You can also use chicken in place of the shrimp if you prefer (or it’s what you have in your freezer).
• Make sure you know how salty your shrimp is. The first time I made this dish, I used shrimp that didn’t need salt at all. The second time, I used a different type of shrimp and I should have seasoned it more aggressively.
• If you absolutely can’t stand fish sauce, you can definitely use soy sauce as a substitute. But you should really give fish sauce a chance!
• I used homemade coconut milk, but it’s totally not necessary. Just substitute a can of coconut milk.