A first recipe from the Steamy Kitchen -

I am a fan of the Steamy Kitchen website. Jaden Hair (@steamykitchen on Twitter) makes good food. She makes amazing food. The girl can cook. So when her cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, came out last year - I wanted it. In a big way. My mother happily obliged my want by gifting it to me at Christmas. I was ecstatic when I opened it. For those of you who don't know, I love cookbooks. Not just to cook from - I love to read them. I will lay in bed at night and read a cookbook as if it was John Grisham's latest novel. I know, I know, I'm odd. But I'm pretty sure we established that many, many posts ago.

So here's the thing - I swear that in another life I was Asian. I love Asian food of all kinds and am quite ambitious when trying new things. Don't ask me to try something in an Indian restaurant - I just won't. But in an Asian restaurant I'll try anything. So when I got the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook - I was excited. But I was also terrified. You see, I'm an okay cook. Give me a recipe and I can generally follow it. But every Asian recipe I've tried.....FAIL. Big time.

I.can't.cook.Asian.food.

I don't know why. Maybe it's stage fright? Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophesy at this point. Whatever it is....it is. And now I had this new shiny, pretty cookbook and I was scared.

So it took me a little while to get the courage up to try anything. And when I finally decided last week to cook from it, I thought I should start with a simple thing. I should start with Fried Rice. So I did. And here's what happened....

So I like crustaceans, we know this, so the peel and devein shrimp thing was familiar territory and helped me get over my gametime nerves. Plus, I like the creepy slimy feel of raw shrimp. YES! I know I'm odd.

Cooking Shrimpfor Fried Rice - I can do this...I can do this...I can do this...I can do this....

Scrambling eggs? Okay...I'm getting into a groove now! What's so scary about cooking Asian food???

I didn't have leftover, refrigerated rice...uh oh. What if that is key? What if the trick is all about the leftover rice? What if fresh rice is a dealbreaker? I'm going to need a lot of Vodka if I'm going to cook my way through this book!

You put 'em all together and you shake it all around - that's what it's all about! Recipes that I can sing to are good. See, I told you I could do this! And you doubted me? Silly people.

Seeing is believing! Tasting is....well, believing! I did it! This was scrumptious! The weeone loved it, so did I. Not to mention, that I'm thoroughly impressed with my mad Asian cooking skillz now! cheers!

Perfect Shrimp Fried Rice Recipe

The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Serves 4

8 ounces small uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined 1/4 teaspoon salt (or 1/2 tsp kosher salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch 2 tablespoons cooking oil (divided) 3 eggs, beaten in a small bowl 2 stalks scallion or green onion, minced 4 cups previously cooked leftover rice, grains separated well 3/4 cup frozen carrots and peas, defrosted 1 tablespoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if you are making a gluten-free version) 1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let the shrimp marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add only 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

Now add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the pan so that they are not overlapping. Let the shrimp fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium and let the pan heat up again. Pour in the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the frying pan onto the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use a paper towel to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean (no need to wash) and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and stir fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok or pan

Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.