Scott & I go out to eat every so often to give us a break in the kitchen and more importantly to find inspiration for date night dinners at home. One of our favorite places to go in Tampa, Florida is a restaurant called Eddie V’s. One of their side items that we are absolutely addicted to is their crab fried rice. This is one of their menu items that speak to your soul and even better, the leftovers seem to have the healing powers to cure a hangover after that bottle of wine we killed at dinner.

Here’s my copycat recipe for Eddie V’s Crab Fried Rice

Here’s what you’ll need

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red chili pepper (Fresno) seeded & minced
1/2 cup sliced bella mushrooms
2 scallions sliced thin (green parts only)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked white rice
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use the brand Silver Swan Soy Sauce, a product of the Philippines)
1 egg cooked and scrambled
1 large lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup jumbo lump crab meat (precooked)

In a wok or large skillet add the vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Throw in the mushrooms and red pepper and sauté for about 3 minutes until softened. Once softened, add garlic and scallions and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add to the wok the cooked white rice. Drizzle soy sauce on top and mix everything really well until the rice turns an even light brown color from the soy sauce. If you have patchy areas of white rice, feel free to drizzle another tablespoon of soy sauce to reach that even coloring. Don’t go too crazy with the soy sauce, remember it is a form of salt and adding too much can make this overly salty. You are looking for a balance of color and flavor. This is a perfect opportunity to do a taste test and make sure it’s that perfect amount of soy. At this point reduce heat to medium.

Now it’s time to build the last layers of flavor by squeezing the juice of one large lemon over the rice and stir. Be careful to catch the seeds when squeezing the lemon or you’ll be fishing them out of the rice while eating. Add the butter incorporating it until it melts into the rice. Toss in the scrambled egg and jumbo lump crab warming it through for a few minutes and serve immediately.

You can serve this by itself as an entree or I chose to serve it as a side item with whole roasted fish. Masarap!

Serves 4 as a side item or 2 as a main dish

Tip: use left over white rice from Chinese take out or if you’re Filipino we all know that rice cooker is working overtime and you already have some on standby!

Don’t forget to taste everything while you cook. I cannot stress that enough. Tasting as you go prevents you from either over seasoning or under seasoning. You can catch your mistake before the dish hits the table.

MASARAP!