Thai pineapple fried rice

Start by making the rice as it needs time to cool and dry out in the fridge; if you can, do this the night before. First, rinse rice and place in a pot with coconut milk, water and a good pinch of salt. Stir and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce to very low heat and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and leave (still covered) for 8 minutes before fluffing up grains with a fork. Spread out rice in a large dish or on a tray and place in the fridge to cool and dry out – ideally overnight, but a couple of hours will also do the trick.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cut pineapple in half lengthways. Carve out the flesh while leaving the skin intact to create two 'boats' (see tip, opposite). Dice flesh and set aside about 1½ cups (if you like, freeze the rest then blend with the leftover coconut milk from the can for a dessert!). Pat the pineapple boats dry with paper towels.

Pat diced chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or your largest (preferably non-stick) frying pan on high heat. Cook chicken for 3-4 minutes until golden, then add another drizzle of oil, the white spring onion and garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add turmeric, coriander and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute.

Add cooked rice, diced pineapple, cashews, sweet chilli, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until well combined and heated through. Toss through the fresh red chilli (if using) and most of the green spring onion.

Whisk eggs with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Push contents to one side of the pan, add a drizzle of oil to the other side and add eggs. Scramble them around a bit with a wooden spoon or fish slice, then allow them to set as an omelette (about 2 minutes). Once it's pretty much set, roughly break it up into pieces and toss through the rice. Turn off the heat. Taste rice and season with more fish sauce if needed.

Spoon fried rice into pineapple boats, piling it as high as you can. Place pineapple halves on an oven tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until steaming hot. Just before serving, garnish with more red chilli, cashews and remaining green spring onion.