Pomelo Fried Rice – 20 minutes fried rice recipe

This easy and special pomelo fried rice recipe only takes 20 minutes to make.

The juicy pomelo flesh adds a refreshing citrus fragrance to the savory fried rice.

You can even make a cute pomelo bowl out of pomelo skin. Delicious pomelo fried rice in a heart-shape pomelo lunchbox – this could be a perfect Valentine’s Day bento idea!

How to peel a pomelo

If you are not planning on making a bowl out of the pomelo skin, you can easily peel a pomelo by following these 7 steps.

It is also very simple to DIY a pomelo skin bowl:

1. Draw a line on the center of the pomelo. An optionally draw a heart with 2/3 of the heart above the middle line.

2. Use a small knife to cut along the line. Pierce the point of the knife about 1 inch into the pomelo skin. It’s okay to pierce into the flesh a bit.

3. Insert a small metal spoon between the pomelo skin and the fruit, wiggle the spoon left and right to separate the flesh from the skin. Move the spoon all the way around the pomelo.

4. Insert a hand between the pomelo skin and the fruit to break up any attached pith. Peel off the pomelo skin from the fruit.

You can serve the pomelo fried rice in this pomelo skin bowl. You can even cover it up with its lid, wrap it well with plastic food wrap, and secretly pack it in your partner/child’s lunch bag.

This pomelo skin container is microwave safe, if you just use it to reheat the fried rice under 2 minutes.

Tips for making pomelo fried rice

1. Reheat cold rice for making fried rice

Freshly cooked rice could be too soft, wet, sticky, and mushy to be stir fried. While based on my previous experiences, cold rice grains from the fridge taste too dry and firm after fried.

Therefore, in this recipe, we will microwave the cold rice grains until fluffy before frying them.

I found that frozen rice actually taste better than refrigerated rice after it’s reheated. So I usually store my leftover rice in the freezer. Cooked rice can stay good in the freezer for up to 6 months.

When ready to use, you can just place an ice cube on the rice, cover it with parchment paper, then microwave it for 2 minutes (for making fried rice) or 3 minutes (for serving directly). 

For rice that has been stored in the refrigerator instead of the freeze, you can just microwave it for 1 minute before frying it. This step could make your fried rice softer and fluffy. 

2. why adding pomelo to fried rice

How often does your mouth feel greasy and thirsty after eating fried rice? The pomelo flesh can provide a refreshing taste and citrus fragrance to balance the oil in your fried rice.

However, do not add more than ½ cup of pomelo flesh, nor heat up the pomelo over the stove. Otherwise the fried rice might taste bitter. 

It’s totally fine if you want to skip the pomelo. The shrimp fried rice already tastes amazing without the pomelo flesh.

3. Choice of protein

You can use any type of protein to substitute the shrimp in this recipe. But make sure that the meat is fully cooked before serving. Since we will only fry the protein for about 6 minutes, I’d recommend using something that’s easy to be cooked through, for example, you can use thinly sliced chicken, beef, or tofu cubes.

I wouldn’t use pork for this recipe, because pork is unsafe to eat when undercooked.

4. Pre-season the rice

An easy tip for making flavorful fried rice is to preseason the rice before frying it.

We can easily separate the microwave-reheated rice grains with hands, then evenly coat the rice grains with 2 tbsps of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil.

By mixing the rice with some sesame oil, the rice grains won’t stick together in the pan when you fry them. If you won’t have sesame oil at home, you can also use melted lard or butter as a substitution.

INGREDIENTS list

• 2 cups cooked rice (Ideally use frozen or refrigerated rice. Check out my 3 methods of cooking perfectly fluffy rice in this post. )
• 3 tbsps light soy sauce (Mix 2 tbsps with rice, add 1 tbsp to frying pan)
• 1 tsp sesame oil (or lard)
• 3 eggs (Large)
• 8 shrimps (Frozen or fresh; can be substituted with chicken, beef, or tofu)
• 1 cup frozen vegetables (I used carrots, corn and peas. No need to thaw.)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (1 tbsp for frying eggs, 1 tbsp for frying other ingredients)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (see my homemade oyster sauce recipe here)
• ½ tbsp sugar
• ¼ tsp Szechuan pepper powder (You can also use white pepper or black pepper instead.)
• ¼ tsp salt (or to your taste)
• ½ cup pomelo flesh (Or grapefruit flesh)
• 1 green onion (Chopped, optional)

Step-by-step INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Submerge 8 large frozen shrimp in a large bowl of cold water until fully thawed, drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. (Skip this step if you are using fresh shrimp.) Cut each shrimp into 3 pieces. Set aside.

2. Crack 3 large eggs in a bow, whisk until well combined. Chop 1 green onion. Peel a pomelo, get about ½ cup of pomelo flesh.

3. Place 2 cups of cold cooked rice in a bowl, place an ice cube on top of the rice, cover with a piece of parchment paper. Microwave on power 100% for 1 minute if it’s refrigerated rice, microwave for 2 minutes if it’s frozen rice.

4. Remove the parchment paper and the ice cube. Loosen the rice grains with your hands. Add 2 tbsps of light soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil (*note it’s tsp here, not tbsp) to the rice, mix with your hands until well combined.

5. Heat up a nonstick frying pan/wok over high heat for 2 minutes, add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to the pan, heat up the oil for 30 seconds. Pour the eggs to the pan, quickly stir-fry for about 30 seconds until the eggs are just set. Transfer fried eggs to a bowl.

6. No need wash or wipe the pan, add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to the pan. Add the shrimp to stir fry over medium high heat for 1 minute, add the frozen vegetables to stir fry over medium high heat for 2 minute.

7. Add the rice to the pan, stir fry over medium high heat for 2 minute.

8. Add fried eggs, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, ½ tbsp of sugar, ¼ tsp of Szechuan pepper powder, and ¼ tsp of salt (gradually add to your taste), stir fry over medium high heat for 2 minute until all the ingredients are evenly heated and well combined.

9. Turn off the heat, add ½ cup of pomelo flesh and chopped green onion (optional) to the fried rice. Stir to combine, then quickly transfer to a serving plate (pomelo flesh will taste bitter if it’s heated for too long).

10. Serve hot. To store: keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat with the ice cube parchment microwave method that I have just used above.

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