This easy Thai crab fried rice is well seasoned and studded with eggs and delicate, sweet chunks of crab meat.
Fried rice is a staple comfort food at our house. It’s a quick and easy meal to feed the family. I recently discovered a delicious Thai crab fried rice, or khao pad pu from the Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen cookbook by Nok Suntaranon. Khao pad translates to fried rice in Thai while pu means crab. This crab fried rice is well seasoned and studded with eggs and delicate, sweet chunks of crab meat. I love how easily this tasty Thai classic comes together in less than 30 minutes for the perfect savory meal.
Ingredient Notes
- Crab: I used frozen snow crabs from my local Japanese supermarket, Tokyo Central. Dungeness crab or store bought lump crab meat are great alternatives. I like using snow crabs because the meat is sweet but doesn't take as much time to remove compared to Dungeness crab.
- Rice: use one day old, cooked Jasmine rice. For freshly cooked rice, spread the rice in a thin layer on a baking sheet for 2 hours to dry. I prefer the latter for better flavor.
Season the rice
I learned a new trick for fried rice from chef Suntaranon. She seasoned the rice before cooking which gives it a better flavor instead of having chunks of rice unseasoned in the final dish.
How to Cook Fried Rice
- In a small bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper.
- In a large wok or heavy, non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat, add eggs and stir with spatula until egg is scrambled, about 2-3 minutes.
- Make a well in the center by pushing eggs to the sides of the pan, add onion to the well, and cook until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Move onion to the sides to make another well, add seasoned rice. Spread rice and move rice around. Cook until rice begins to brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Make another well, add scallion and crab meat, cook while stirring for 1 minute until the scallion becomes bright green.
- Mix everything and cook for another 2 minutes. Taste the rice and season with additional soy sauce if desired.
What to Serve Fried Rice With
For the Thai crab fried rice, I served it with sliced cucumber and cilantro. Chef Nok suggested serving the fried rice with prik nam pla or fish sauce and chili condiment but I thought the seasoning was perfect and didn’t need anything else.
For more rice recipe inspiration:
Thai Crab Fried Rice Khao Pad Pu
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon white/black pepper
- 2 ½ cups cooked rice (one day old)
For Frying
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup oil, divided
- ½ cup chopped white onion
- ½ cup chopped scallions, green parts
- 8 ounces crab meat
For Serving
- 1 small cucumber, sliced
- 2 tablespoons sliced scallion, green parts only
- a few sprigs of cilantro
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, salt, and pepper.
- Add cooked rice to a large bowl. Pour the rice seasoning over rice and mix gently with a spatula, separating the rice to prevent clumps.
- In a small bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper.
- In a wok or large, nonstick skillet, add 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring with a spatula, until egg is scrambled, about 2-3 minutes.
- Make a well in the center by pushing eggs to the sides of the pan. Add one tablespoon of oil and onion. Cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Make another well in the center, add the remaining oil and seasoned rice. Spread out the rice, move it around, and cook until the rice begins to brown, about 2-3 minutes.
- Make another well, add crab meat and scallion. Cook and stir for another minute until the scallion becomes bright green.
- Mix everything together and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Divide the rice between 4 serving plates. Add cucumber slices and garnish rice with scallion and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Maggie
I used store bought crab meat. Turned out really good!