Bacon & Egg Fried Rice

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Bacon & Egg Fried Rice

My parents didn’t believe in take aways (takeout meals for you Americans). At least that’s what I believed until I also had to fend for myself and, later on, attempt to keep a household on some sort of sound financial footing. When I was growing up, we did have Kentucky on a few and very far apart occasions. But I certainly didn’t regard it as take aways per se as Mom always prepared vegetables side dishes and a salad to go along with the crispy, deep fried chicken. In my opinion (and proper sense of the word), we should’ve only had that bucket of chicken, the watery gravy, those delectable rolls and enough chips (fries for my American readers) to feed a small third world country. Preferably one bucket per two siblings. Alas, when Dad started farming, that bucket of hope became – and remained – a pipe dream. It still is.

I cannot recall a single instance where Dad ever bought Chinese takeout for us. With four energetic children and his job as a Provincial Council employee (before he became a farmer), a full time housewife, mortgages for car and house and school fees aplenty, any regular takeout excursions were probably a moot point anyway. Not that Dad would’ve chosen Chinese, Greek or Italian styles of takeout even if he could. Being a staunch patriot and nationalist he had no time for such “foreign truck”.

My acquaintance with Chinese came at the hands of colleagues and, eventually, girlfriends. The battered chunks of deep fried pork (with its inevitable, reddish sweet&sour sauce) was nice, if highly variable in quantity and quality between establishments. Chow mein was also nice, but strange for someone culturally unfamiliar to a dish that depends on soy and hoi sin sauces. But I could relate to egg fried rice! It made sense from my cultural point of view, background and status as an eternal bachelor.

As with my father, I also refuse to be herded (or forced) blindly and blithely along accepted social norms and conventions. Thus I have two versions of Egg Fried Rice in my culinary repertoire: the ‘normal’ Chinese style and my own ‘Western’ style. It is the latter that I present here.

By ‘Westernised’ I mean the absence of most of the usual flavouring agents: soy and fish sauces, hoi sin, bean curd, ginger, roasted sesame seed oil and related vagaries. Instead, I tend to use celery, fresh rosemary & parsley and chicken stock (or a mild, commercial chicken marinade) to moisten the final dish. On a wild night I might add a touch of Worcester sauce and a slash of lemon to enliven the ensemble almost to breaking point.

Basically, this is not a recipe, but more a procedure. The main, irreplaceable elements are day old cooked rice, chopped and sautéed onions and a simple omelette diced into small squares. All the rest is up to the cook’s imagination and what is available in the refrigerator and veggie racks. There is truly almost no limit to what you can add here. And if that sucker looks messy on the plate, so be it. The idea here is to eat well, fairly fast and satisfyingly.

Egg & Bacon Fried Rice with Roasted Chicken & Sweet Chilli Sauce

A little bit of common sense in the order of frying the ingredients comes in handy. Always fry the rice last over fairly high heat and don’t be shy with whatever oil is used. The rice needs to ‘pop’ in the hot pan and in the process some of the surface starch sticks to the sides of the pan or wok, forming a crust. This crust will char if you fry the rice earlier in the process. The crispy veggies such as sweet peppers, chillies, julienned baby marrows and or carrot or butternut squash goes in first over medium high heat with near constant tossing or stirring. Then comes the easily wilt-able lot: cabbage, celery, spinach and any other leafy stuff. Second last is the animal protein: bacon, chicken strips, chorizo slices, Russian sausage slices, viennas, etc. and the fresh garlic & herbs (if used) when the protein’s nearly done. The chopped omelette goes in at the very end just before serving.

In this recipe I like to use a commercial, mild chicken marinade (Steer’s product is very good) to moisten the final, pan assembled dish if it looks a bit dry-ish before serving. Add whatever else strikes your gustatory fancy, but I would draw the line at vanilla ice cream or espresso.

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BACON & EGG FRIED RICE

– PRINT RECIPE –

Recipe yields:

2 Portions

Preparation time:

± 20 Minutes

Cooking time:

± 15 Minutes

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Large cast iron skillet, thick bottomed stainless steel pan or medium sized wok.

1 x Medium non-stick pan.

Ingredients:

Extra large eggs	2
Full cream milk	15ml
Salt	± 1ml

Green sweet bell pepper, rough diced	30g
Yellow sweet bell pepper, rough diced	30g
Red sweet bell pepper, rough diced	30g
Optional: mild green chilli, small, pitted & diced	1
Red onion, medium sized, diced	1
Sunflower or olive oil	30ml

Streaky bacon, chopped	75g
Garlic, chopped	5ml
Frozen corn kernels, defrosted	50g
Frozen garden peas, defrosted	50g

Cooked white rice, day old	1½ cup
Sunflower or olive oil	10ml – 15ml
Chicken stock or commercial marinade	±45ml

Spring onion, medium, finely sliced	1
Salt	± 2.5ml
Black pepper, freshly ground	1.2ml
Optional: Fresh parsley, finely chopped	2.5ml
Optional: Fresh rosemary, finely chopped	2.5ml

Method:

Combine the egg, milk and salt and prepare a simple omelette in the non-stick pan. When the omelette is done, cover the pan with an inverted plate and set aside until needed.
Use half of the first portion of oil and sauté the bell pepper and chilli in the skillet, pan or wok over medium high heat until it starts to color. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside. Add the second half of the oil and sauté the onion until it starts to color too. Transfer the onion to the bowl with the sautéed peppers.
Add the bacon to the oily pan and sauté until done to preference. Add the garlic, corn and peas and continue to sauté together until the vegetables are hot and the garlic fragrant. Transfer to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Add the second portion of oil to the used pan and place over medium high heat until the oil is hot. Add the rice and stir-fry until the rice starts to brown and make popping sounds. Stir and toss the frying rice continuously while simultaneously scraping the sides of the pan to prevent excessive sticking.
Remove the pan with rice from the heat and cut the reserved omelette into small squares. Add the egg and all the other reserved ingredients and flavourings, except the chicken stock or marinade, to the pan with hot rice. Return the pan to the heat and warm up over medium low heat until the contents is hot. Stir frequently and add chicken stock / marinade until the rice mixture is moist enough to your preference.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately.

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