Cheesy Seafood Baked Rice

Cheesy Seafood Baked Rice

Tired of the same old seafood pasta? Try switching it up with this delicious seafood rice recipe. A popular Asian Restaurant dish, Cheese Baked rice, gives us Asians our comforting rice combined with the bubbly, gooey deliciousness of Cheese! If you have never had rice topped with cheese before, you have gotta try it!  Kids love it, Adults indulge in it and best of all it is extremely simple to make. I also have a recipe for Cheese baked Chicken Rice. My elder daughter loves seafood! Clams, Mussels, and Prawns are baked along with the rice, and she jumps for joy at the sight of it. You can add calamari if you like, although we are not fans.

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Cheesy Seafood Baked Rice

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  How to make Cheesy Seafood Baked Rice – Recipe at a glance:

1. Prep the mussels and clams for cooking.
2. Marinate the cleaned prawns.
3. Cook the mussels and clams and separately stir fry the marinated prawns. Set aside.
4. Cook the Rice.
5. Prepare the quick sauce.
6. Layer the baking dish and top with cheese
7. Bake and Enjoy!

What you need:

Rice:  Thai or Jasmine rice works best for this aromatic yummy and quick-cooking savory rice. You could substitute it with long grain rice, that has been soaked first. I prefer Thai rice for this kind of recipe.  Thai rice gets mushy if you use too much water. Follow my recipe to have it perfectly cooked.

Pasta Sauce: Use your favorite, store-bought brand, Any good Basil Tomato sauce works well. Roasted Garlic Pasta sauce works nicely too.  You need very little. It is not meant to be too tomatoey in flavor. If you have homemade sauce/ marinara sauce, use this by all means, but it doesn’t make sense to whip up a fresh batch for this recipe, since we use very little, and it defeats the purpose ( get out of kitchen quick recipe). You could also use a store-bought white pasta cause/ carbonara if you prefer that.

Seafood:  Freshness is key. We use fresh Prawns, Mussels, and Clams here. You can also add Calamari if you like.

You also need some simple seasoning to marinate the chicken. Onions, Garlic and Bell Pepper. Let’s go! You might also like:

Cooking Mussels:

Storage: The best way to store mussels is in the bottom of your refrigerator. Covered with a damp cloth or wrapped in wet newspaper. They are best cooked the same day as purchased but will keep, refrigerated at 35 F/ 2 C , for 5-8 days. The double-checking as to whether they were alive comes after they are steamed/boiled: If they fail to open, throw them out. Myth: “Mussels have gone bad if they are open before cooking”. Fact: Mussels that are open before being may likely still be alive. Give them a tap either on the countertop or on the side of a bowl and wait for the shell to close up. If the shell does not close after tapping, then discard it. Do not freeze live mussels. I would never recommend freezing mussels. Since you can not really be sure which of them is alive before freezing, it is always best to cook and discard the bad ones before freezing them. Even then, frozen mussels tend to lose flavor and texture, so you are always better off chilling them and cooking them quickly. Allow the frozen mussels to thaw overnight in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Run warm water over a container of frozen mussels if time is of the essence, however gently thawing them out in the refrigerator yields more tender results. Once fully thawed,  add them to a saucepan, then eat them as is or add them to other recipes, such as spaghetti sauce or soup. Steam mussels still in the shell for three or four minutes in a covered saucepan over medium-high heat with butter/olive oil, and garlic, then reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes longer. The shells should open; discard any that remain closed.

Cooking Clams:

When boiling or steaming clams, use small pots to ensure even cooking. After shells open, boiling should continue for 3 to 5 minutes. Steam for 4 to 9 minutes. Freezing Clams: Clams in the shell, as well as shucked clams, may be frozen. To prepare clams in the shell for freezing, scrub clams under cool water to remove mud and grit. Place in moisture-resistant zipper bags, pressing out excess air, and freeze. Excess air should be removed from the containers to prevent freezer burn. To freeze the clam meat, shuck the clams, then clean and wash the meat thoroughly. Drain and pack in freezer containers. Seal tightly, label and freeze. Clams should be frozen quickly and kept at a low temperature. Rapid freezing results in less tissue damage.  Frozen clam meat will often lose texture once, thawed. The shells of frozen clams open easily when held under warm water. Frozen clam meats should always be thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours and not be refrozen.

Ingredients:

• 300 gms fresh Prawns
• 300 gms fresh Mussels
• 300 gms fresh Clams
• 2 cups Thai Fragrant Rice (1 cup = 240 ml measure)
• 2 cups of water or stock (to cook mussels and clams)
• 4 cloves garlic and 2 leeks(white stalks), chopped (to cook mussels and clams)
• 3 large cloves Garlic,crushed 3 thin slices from a knob of Ginger, julienned (to cook prawns)
• 6 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp light Soy sauce
• 200-300 gms Grated Mozzarella cheese

      To Marinate the prawns:

• 1 tsp Asian Sesame Oil
• 3/4 tsp Sugar (raw sugar)
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp Water

    To cook Rice:

• 3 Tbsp Sunflower/Vegetable oil
• 1 small Yellow Onion (Vidalia), chopped
• 3 tsp Garlic, minced
• 1 Chicken stock cube (Bouillon cube)
• 3 cups water (1 cup = 240 ml measure)
• 1/3 tsp Salt

    For Tomato Pepper Sauce:

• 4-5 cloves Garlic, sliced
• Half of a Green bell Pepper(Capsicum), cut into squares
• Half of a Red bell Pepper(Capsicum), cut into squares
• 3/4 cup Tomato Pasta sauce of choice (I used a Roasted Garlic, Onion and Basil Tomato Sauce)
• 1-2 sprigs Fresh curry leaves ( adds great flavor!)

Same Recipe Video is available on the Recipe page⇑.

On Laptop, is recommended that you open the recipe page and keep this page going if you like to WATCH / LISTEN to the video alongside the written instructions.

Key Ingredients: Rice, Prawns, Mussels, Clams, Cheese, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Bell Pepper, Tomato, Bell Peppers, Curry leaves, Seasoning, Olive oil.

EAT AND TELL!!! Let us know if you tried – Cheesy Seafood Baked Rice