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Leftover cooked rice is served with flavorful broth and varieties of seafood, crispy rice and crispy scrambled eggs that give you that nice contrast of texture. A great easy way to use up leftover rice and other ingredients for a delicious meal.
What is pao fan?
Pao fan is a rice soup. It’s one way of the Chinese family of using up the leftover rice (besides just making fried rice). The presentation is quite similar to rice congee/porridge, but it’s not. With pao fan, the soup and the rice are prepared separately and then serve together. Unlike rice congee where the rice grains are cooked in the liquid or broth until the grains are broken down into creamy smooth consistency. My mom is a Teochew and so she was familiar with Teochew porridge, which is very similar to pao fan in presentation, a rice and a soup. Pao fan has a richer broth compared to Teochew porridge.
Seafood pao fan
You can pretty much put whatever seafood you like. I’ve seen very fancy pao fan that people like to prepare during Chinese New Year to use up leftovers from reunion feast such as abalone pao fan, lobster pao fan, fish pao fan, and some with a mixture of all kind of seafood. I only use fish, shrimp, and fish maw in this recipe. But you can go with as many as you want or only one variety.
Simple broth
Some people will really go all out to prepare the broth for pao fan. You can make your broth from scratch using bones, chicken feet, and shrimp heads/shells for that really rich broth. My version is an easy semi-homemade where I use store-bought good quality chicken broth and some shrimp shells that I’ve collected from peeling shrimp
How to make Singapore style seafood pao fan
In Singapore, pao fan is served with crispy rice topping along with other crunchy toppings like fried anchovies and peanuts, crispy fried eggs,and sometimes meat floss. Which is so addicting and I love the contrast of texture there.
1. Soak fish maw in warm water until soften and then cut into bite-size pieces. Marinate the fish slices for 30 minutes while you prepare other things
2. Preheat oil in a heavy-bottom pot. Saute garlic and ginger for about 1 minute. Add the shrimp shells/heads and stir fry until they turn reddish. Pour the chicken broth in and bring to a boil and then lower the heat, cover with a lid to let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Then strain off the solids and add mushroom powder/sole fish powder, sugar, and salt to your taste
3. I like to chill the rice in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so. Pour about 1 inch of oil and heat it up over medium heat. When you insert a skewer or chopstick inside the oil, you will see bubbles around it. The oil is ready
4. Scatter some of the rice in the oil. The rice should float and puff. Continue to scatter the rice. They will clump together, but don’t worry about it. They can be separated when they are crispy. Fry until the rice grains are lightly golden brown and crispy and puffy. Remove from the oil into an absorbent paper towel
5. Use the same oil you use to fry the rice. Heat them over medium heat. Beat the eggs along with the seasonings until foamy. Use a strainer and pour the eggs through the strainer and they will flow down and bubbles up in the hot oil
6. Fry until they are crispy while separating the eggs into large chunks. Remove from the oil into an absorbent paper towel and set aside
7. Bring the stock you prepare earlier back to a boil. Add fish maw and corn kernels. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then add shrimp and fish fillet and cook for about 1-2 minutes or so until they are cooked through. Stir in the goji berries. They will soften once they touch the broth. At this point, you can either add the rice into the broth or portion out the rice into an individual serving bowl and then ladle the broth over along with the seafood
8. Serve pao fan with some sprinkle of crispy rice, crispy eggs, crispy anchovies, and peanuts if you like along with other topping suggestions. Serve immediately
If you ask me, there’s no rule when it comes to making pao fan. The idea is basically to use up the leftover rice and other ingredients you have. But of course, if you do make a plan to cook pao fan, then it can be as fancy or as minimal as you want it to be.
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You may also like this similar recipe
Thai Rice Soup (Khai Tom)
How To Make Easy Singapore Seafood Pao Fan (Crispy Rice Pao Fan)
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked leftover rice
If you don't have leftover rice:
- how to cook rice (cook 2-3 cups of rice)
Easy broth:
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 500 gr shrimp heads and/or shells
- 1 Tbsp mushroom powder seasoning or bouilon cube or sole fish powder
- ¼ tsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Crispy rice:
- ½ cup cooked rice
- Oil for frying
Crispy eggs:
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground white pepper
Seafood: (you can use whatever you like)
- 300 gr Fish fillet cut into large pieces
- 50 gr fish maw
- 400 gr Shrimp peeled and deveined
Marinade for fish:
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Seasonings:
- 1 tsp Fish sauce
- Salt to taste
- ¼ tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
Vegetables:
- 1 cup sweet corn kernels see notes
Garnish:
- 2 Tbsp Goji berries
- Green onion
Other toppings you can add:
- Meat floss
- Crispy peanuts and anchovies I use store-bought
Instructions
- Soak fish maw in warm water until soften and then cut into bite-size pieces. Marinate the fish slices for 30 minutes while you prepare other things
Prepare the simple broth:
- Peel the shells from the shrimp and save the shells to make the stock. You may need more than 400 grams of shrimp to get 400 grams of shells and/or heads. I usually save up some shrimp shells and sometimes the heads for the purpose of making a stock
- Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add the shrimp shells/heads. Cover with a lid to let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Then strain off the solids, then add shiitake mushrooms, fish maw, mushroom powder/sole fish powder, sugar, and salt to your taste
If you don't have leftover rice:
- It is best to use leftover cooked rice that has been refrigerated. If you don't have any, follow this recipe but cook 2 or 3 cups worth of rice. Make sure you spread the cooked rice out to let it cools down and then put it in the fridge to let it dry out.
Prepare the crispy rice:
- I like to chill the rice in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so. Pour about 1 inch of oil and heat it up over medium heat. When you insert a skewer or chopstick inside the oil, you will see bubbles around it. The oil is ready. Scatter some of the rice in the oil. The rice should float and puff. Continue to scatter the rice. They will clump together, but don't worry about it. They can be separated when they are crispy. Fry until the rice grains are lightly golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil into an absorbent paper towel
Prepare the crispy eggs:
- Use the same oil you use to fry the rice. Heat them over medium heat. Beat the eggs along with the seasonings until foamy. Use a strainer and pour the eggs through the strainer and they will flow down and bubbles up in the hot oil. Fry until they are crispy while separating the eggs into large chunks. Remove from the oil into an absorbent paper towel and set aside
- If you want to fry some anchovies (ikan bilis), you can do so in the same oil and fry them until crispy and set aside. I got some store-bought fried anchovies and peanuts so I didn't make any
Putting everything together:
- Bring the stock you prepare earlier back to a boil. Add fish maw and corn kernels. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then add shrimp and fish fillet and cook for about 1-2 minutes or so until they are cooked through. Off the heat. Stir in the goji berries. They will soften once they touch the broth. At this point you can either add the rice into the broth or portion out rice into an individual serving bowl and then ladle the broth over along with the seafood
Serving:
- Serve the pao fan with some sprinkle of crispy rice, crispy eggs, crispy anchovies and peanuts if you like along with other topping suggestions. Serve immediately
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
Marv's Recipe Notes
- You can also use carrots, daikon, or other veggies of your choice if you want to include some veggies
4 comments
I cooked your Pao fan recipe and my family and I found it amazingly delicious. Thank you.
Hi Frank, I’m glad you and your family enjoyed the pao fan 🙂
Hi, may I know if the crispy rice is just a garnish, or is it the rice that they goes into the broth in your “Putting everything together” step? Thanks.
Hi Priscilla, the crispy rice is just for garnish 🙂