Vietnamese Cauli-Fried Rice

1/4 cup water

2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (to taste)

2 tablespoons fish sauce (Get a Paleo friendly brand HERE)

1 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey or agave (For ‘strict Paleo’, skip the honey)

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Chili flakes optional

In a mason jar, combine all the Nước chấm Sauce ingredients. Shake or mix well. Sprinkle as desired onto fried rice, salads or even use a dipping sauce.

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup onion, diced

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup asparagus, diced

1 cup sausage, chopped (traditionally Chinese sausage is used, I used Kielbasa)

1 cup shrimp (about 9 large 16 count shrimp, raw or cooked) chopped

2 large eggs, cracked & lightly beaten

1/4 cup spring onions, chopped

1/4 cilantro

Coarse sea salt and cracked pepper to taste (less salt is needed if using the sauce below)

Grate the Cauliflower using a food processor with the grater attachment or use a hand grater. Using the food processor w/o attachment will work to, but the texture won’t be as light.

Prep the rest of the ingredients as stated in the ingredient list above. I find it helpful to put each ingredient into a separate prep bowl.

You will need 2 pans/woks for best results.(unless you cut the recipe in  half)

Note: Flat bottomed woks work best on a stove top as opposed to the traditional style. You could also use a regular frying pan. Two woks are are need because if you overfill a pan when stir frying, you will cause the ingredients to steam instead of brown and ‘fry’. It is important to have room to spread out the ingredients while cooking. For this reason I just cook the ‘rice in one pan and the veggies in the other, then combine at the end.

Add the oil and the onions to one of the woks/pan, preheated over medium heat. Fry the onions till soft and translucent.

While the onions are cooking, heat the other wok/pan over medium high-high heat, add about 1 tablespoon oil. Now add the cauliflower and cook the same as you would the veggies/protein. Spreading out and frying the cauliflower, allowing to brown some, tossing and allowing to brown again. This will take about 5 minutes on a high heat.

Make a well in the center of the cauliflower. Add the beaten egg and stir until it just begins to thicken, but is still wet. Toss the egg throughout the ‘rice’. Continue with tossing till the rice is no longer wet. Rice should become nice and fluffy with bits of egg throughout, not large scrambles of it…unless you like it that way.

NOW back to the pan with the onions: Add the garlic, carrots, asparagus, sausage and shrimp to the onions, cooking till the carrots begin to soften and the and the meat is done.  Continue to fry, stirring & tossing the ingredients often. Remember to spread tingredients out evenly in the pan between ‘tossing’. This will ensure even browning and NO ‘steaming’

When both mixtures are ready and nicely browned in spots (the cauliflower WILL be done first), combine them into one pan and toss till evenly mixed. Serve with garnishes listed below.

If not using the Nước Chấm or fish sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Best served hot.