There are a lot ways to tell whether an avocado is ready to eat or not. One of the most reliable methods I’ve found is to try and pull off the step cap. If it doesn’t fall off easily it’s probably not ripe yet. The thing is, this method doesn’t work 100% of the time and if you go through as many avocados as I do, you’re bound to occasionally end up with avocados that are too firm to eat.
If you’ve ever been in this position, today’s dish is for you! It’s not only a way to save an unripe avocado, it tastes kind of amazing. When stir-fried, crunchy avocado will become soft and creamy, but they are still able to retain their shape making them perfect for stir-fries. Paired with briny crab, fragrant ginger, and nutty sesame oil, this simple fried rice features an irresistible combination of flavors, textures and colors that will have you looking for unripe avocados in your grocery store.
My other fried rice trick for the day is to add the egg at the end instead of at the beginning. If you add the egg at the beginning, it ends up becoming tough and rubbery by the time you finish stir-frying everything else. That’s why I usually remove the egg from the pan before adding the other ingredients and then reintroduce it at the end. This works fine, except you end up dirtying another dish. By pushing the almost-finished rice to the sides of the pan and scrambling the egg in the center, it saves dirtying an extra dish, and that’s always a good thing in my kitchen.
I used short-grain brown rice to make this, but you can use whatever kind of leftover plain rice you have on hand.
Other Rice Recipes
Units
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 12 grams ginger (finely minced)
- 1 avocado (cut into cubes)
- 300 Grams rice (about 2 cups)
- 100 grams crab meat
- salt (to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
- 1 egg
- cilantro (for garnish)
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan over medium high heat until hot. Add the sesame oil, ginger and avocado and sautéed the avocado until it is soft.
- Add the rice and use a silicone spatula to break up any clumps of rice being careful not to mash the avocado.
- Add the crab and season the rice with salt and pepper to taste.
- Finish the fried rice by pushing the rice to the sides and then breaking an egg into the center of the pan. Scramble quickly and the toss together with the rest of the fried rice.
- Serve garnished with cilantro leaves.
Kenta says
As Japanese, I always write having in mind that the Japanese got to enjoy my contents had they read them.
Having said it, I’ve never thought of making fried rice with avocados. The fundamental of cooking fried rice is here, while you are combining two ingredients that work well at the same time (avocado and crabs).
The spirit of not wasting food, 頂きます, thrives here, as well.
The combination of avocado, crabs, and rice this way works more than California Roll, have you suggested people in Japan to implement this? Respect to you coming up with this!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Kenta, thanks for stopping by! Glad to hear you found some inspiration in this dish😄