Shrimp fried 'rice' final

Shrimp Fried ‘Rice’

Do you ever have a restaurant that you loved so much that now every other restaurant with that cuisine will always be compared to it? I have fond memories of a Chinese restaurant in Katy, TX where we used to live (Hong Kong Garden I am sad your extinct!)  Specifically the eggrolls, the won-ton soup and of course…the pork fried rice!! We were craving Chinese…which always brings up a longing for pork fried rice…obviously takeout PFR is not an option with eating low carb so we decided to make our own version with what I have on hand. I always keep frozen, peeled uncooked shrimp in the freezer and no time to go to the store, so SF’R’ is what we did! It turned out great – with the flavors I was drooling for, but we didn’t have to slay eating healthy! 

For the shrimp, I buy either from HEB or Costco the large or x-large raw, peeled raw shrimp. It’s a staple at our house (hey…seafood is meat too!) and takes just a few minutes to thaw.  We just take out how many we need, but them in a bowl with some lukewarm water and voila – protein to keep us scouring the jungles!

This is the brand of already chopped cauli-rice I found at my local HEB grocery store. It was in the produce section near the other pre-chopped veggies. I don’t always buy this…it’s only about $.50 more than getting a whole head of cauliflower, but it’s nice when I want a quick ‘rice’.
Shrimp fried 'rice' - caulibits

For the Tamari…the reason I use this, is that it doesn’t have wheat in it (who knew soy sauce had wheat!) and is gluten free…San-J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce (balck bottle) 10 Ounce
so there aren’t any extra carbs sneaking into your plate. For a substitute, you could use Kikkoman Lite Soy Sauce, 5 Oz.

Just a quick view of the egg being added.
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My beautiful herbs – most foraged from my garden.
Shrimp fried 'rice' - herbs used

Shrimp Fried ‘Rice’

8 large, frozen, peeled raw Shrimp, thawed
1/2 a head of cauliflower, chopped into small ‘rice-sized’ pieces
1/2 white onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 egg, beaten
1tsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 tsp fresh garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp tamari sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp cilantro, chopped
1 tsp green onions, chopped
1 tsp basil, chopped
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
salt & pepper

Mix the vinegar, tamari and sesame oil. Set aside.

Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add some olive or coconut oil to the bottom of a pan. Season your shrimp with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook about 3 minutes on each side until they are slightly pink and but still tender – caution…don’t cook fully since we will be adding this back to the pan later (Mr. T learned a lesson on this one).  Once the shrimp are cooked, set aside.

Add more oil to the pan if needed and put in your cauliflower. Cook for about 5 minutes then add in the chopped celery and onion. Once the cauliflower looks a bit toasty (lightly browned all over) move everything to the side of the pan. Add your beaten egg in the middle…give it a second to start to scramble, then mix it around…adding it to the cauli-mixture once it starts to set.  Add in your salt and pepper (to taste).

Once the egg mix has set in, add your shrimp back in and add in the vinegar/tamari/sesame oil mix. Once everything is heated through, top with the cut herbs and sesame seads – to your liking. I like a lot of cilantro and green onion and a bit of basil, but to each their own!

Optional: We LOVE spicy so we add some Sriracha for some heat – it never hurts to go for the original: Huy Fong, Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, 9 Ounce Bottle…or we recently tried the Trader Joe’s Sriracha Sauce…18.25 oz. bottle which was really good… Or our new RAWR!-worthy product: Yellowbird Habenero Hot Sauce. This stuff is VERY spicy so no joke…a few drops goes a long way!

Serves: 2

Estimated Nutrition Stats (per side dish serving): Calories – 167 | Fat – 6g | Carbs – 11g | Net carbs – 7g | Fiber – 4g | Protein – 18g

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