A number of years ago, I lived in Taiwan for a year teaching ESL to children. There was so much amazing food in Taiwan, but my favorite dish was an amazing bacon fried rice at a café in my neighborhood. I went every weekend to get that rice. Every. Weekend. Couldn't live without it. Ever find a dish so good you keep going back again and again?This is why I had to figure out a way to make it even after I'd left Taiwan.
Bacon Fried Rice in Taiwan: Really?
Look, there was a ton of crazy delicious food in Taiwan and probably the best dumplings of my life close to my school. There was a buffet restaurant near where I worked as well that puts our Chinese food buffets to shame. Our Americanized Chinese buffets, I should say. In Taiwan, the buffet food was so incredibly fresh. There were so many vegetables being offered (many of which I didn't recognize), the soups, the noodles, the dumplings. I could fill a small box and it was just a few dollars.
Before Taiwan, bacon fried rice was something I'd never experienced. Embarrassingly, I didn't realize it was bacon in the rice the first few months I ordered it. I thought it was some kind of thinly sliced pork, obviously, but I truly didn't realize it was bacon. They tend to under cook bacon in Taiwan so it doesn't quite look like what I was used to. I sat there thinking, why is this fried rice so good?
The same woman was always at the cafe and she would look at me smiling and nodding and I would smile and nod pointing to the chalk board menu with a sketched-out picture of a bowl of fried rice. That was how I ordered my bacon fried rice. Magically, a few minutes later, it would appear before me. And I'd devour it.
bacon fried rice: an unusual ingredient for a pop of sweetness
One little detail: they also put raisins in the fried rice! I skipped it for this recipe because it's probably strange enough that there is bacon in the fried rice. However, if you're feeling daring, throw ¾ of a cup of raisins in at the end and give it a good toss. For me that little pop of sweetness, puts this dish over the top.I would say as you start to incorporate the veggie mix with the rice - add the raisins here. The rice is so hot by the end of all the stirring, they will cook the raisin just enough.
Falling in love with white rice
I truly fell in love with white rice when I lived in Asia. I started realizing how rice from different countries around Asia can taste completely different. Taiwan is where my love of short and medium grain white rice began. Thailand and India gave me a true appreciation for jasmine and basmati rice in all it's incredible varieties and qualities. But Taiwan made me fall in love with plain white rice. I sucked at cooking plain white rice prior to living there. When I got home, I cooked white rice over and over until I figured out how to make it awesome. So, even though this recipe is about fried rice, I've got a little bonus section below about how to cook white rice. ❤
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how to cook plain white rice in a pot
Look, if you're using a rice cooker/steamer your rice will come out awesome. That is what a rice steamer does: makes awesome rice. But I also wanted to understand how to make it in a pot, and make it really well. Here's a few tips if you're using a pot:
- Pay attention to the water to rice ratio information printed on the bag or box of rice, and do not deviate from the suggested amounts.
- You must and I mean *must* add butter and salt to your pot of rice. If you're not crazy about adding butter, olive oil is fine.
- As with most rice: bring the rice, water (with salt and butter) to a rolling boil. Then turn the heat to low, put the lid on the pot, and let it simmer 15-20 minutes.
- This last step might be the most important. Don't take the lid off. Don't stir the rice. Turn the heat off at the 15-20 minute mark. Push the pot to the back burner and just let it steam another 10-15 minutes. Just. Let. It. Be.
- Once it's steamed off the heat, it's ready. Then you can take the lid off and serve.
Bacon Fried Rice with a Secret...shhhh
Lastly, it's worth noting this recipe contains no soy sauce and no sesame oil. I really do appreciate the rice without it. I know it might be hard to imagine a flavor base without soy sauce, without that kick of umami, but it can be done because we built layers of other flavors that work without needing to add soy sauce.
With Bacon Fried Rice: Build Layers of Flavor
For me, making a gourmet fried rice is about building layers of flavors. The bacon, garlic, ginger, carrot, zucchini, onion mixture is the flavor base of this dish. Plus, properly salting ingredients as you work through the cooking process creates a good balance. The raw egg at the end is critical too. It turns into cooked egg the moment it hits the wok so don't worry. But it creates this nice coating over the rice that adds to the flavor as well.
Most fried rice recipes on the internet contain soy sauce. But if you create a powerful enough flavor base - you simply don't need it.
Looking for More Recipes with an International Flair?
- Mie Goreng - Indonesian Noodles with Rotisserie Chicken,
- Pork Butt Stir Fry w/Carrots & Bok Choy
- Honey Soy Chicken over Basmati
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Moroccan Spiced Phyllo Meat Pie
- General Tso's Chicken (Trader Joe's Hack)
- Cardamom Chicken Thighs s/Coconut Raisin Rice
How to Make Amazing Bacon Fried Rice
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Bacon fried rice is truly a unique and fantastic fried rice recipe. I ate this every weekend the year I lived in Taiwan.
Ingredients
- 3 small to medium zucchinis, diced small
- 3 large carrots, diced small
- 1 large onion, diced small
- 1 pound of bacon (thick sliced works well)
- 1 tablespoon of bacon fat (optional)
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 3 inches of ginger, grated on microplane (or finely diced)
- ½ bunch of scallions, chopped, more if you want
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 3 cups of sushi rice (or short to medium grain white rice)
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 2-3 eggs (beaten)
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Instructions
The Rice
- Cook the rice. Always wash the rice before cooking. Rinse the rice 3-5 times until the cloudy water runs clear. I use a rice cooker to steam my rice. Add butter and salt into your rice cooker. It’s important to butter and salt the rice. If you are using a pot on the stove just follow the directions on the packaging to cook the rice… but make sure to add the butter and salt as well. If you don’t want to use butter you can substitute with olive oil.
While the rice is cooking start prepping the other ingredients.
- Chop carrots, zucchini and onion into small bite-sized pieces and put in separate bowls. For the carrot and zucchini, I cut them into sticks and then into cubes. For the onion just dice it and set aside in a bowl.
- Start cooking the pound of bacon. Cook in batches in a large sauté pan (or two) and move cooked pieces to a paper towel-lined paper plate. Reserve the bacon fat in a ramekin. Let bacon cool before chopping into bite-sized pieces. NOTE: While the bacon is cooking you should be doing some other prep work.
- Chop scallions (including white parts) into small pieces and set aside in a bowl.
- Finely dice 3 cloves of garlic and set aside in a ramekin.
- Put carrots in a med sauté pan with a drizzle of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper to taste. You want to cook these first because they take longer than the zucchini and onion. Give the carrots a toss around the pan then cook the carrots – COVERED – on low heat for five minutes. Stir a couple of times. Remove from heat and leave covered another 3-5 minutes then remove the lid and leave the carrots in that pan.
- Cut three inches of ginger from a root. Slice the skin off the sides using your knife (or peeler) and grate it using a microplane tool. If you don’t have that just use a knife and finely chop it.
- Chop your bacon into bite-sized pieces.
- Crack eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt and beat them well.
- At this point in the cooking process, your rice is probably done or near to being done. I like to wait to start cooking the zucchini and onion until the rice is completed.
- Add chopped zucchini to the carrots and cook on medium heat. There should be enough olive oil from cooking the carrots so no need to add anymore yet. Stir well then put lid on and cook on low to medium heat for 3 minutes – then remove the lid. You don’t want to completely cook the zucchini. When it gets added to the wok with the rice it will continue cooking and you don’t want it to turn to mush. Cook the zucchini until al dente.
- Add onions to carrot/zucchini mixture and a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of salt. Mix well, then cook on low/medium heat. The onions will become slightly translucent in just a couple of minutes.
- Add the chopped bacon into the veggie mix and stir well.
- Make a well in center of veggies and add your garlic, ginger and either a drizzle of olive oil or the reserved bacon fat. Cook for a minute or so until fragrant.
- Add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat OR a drizzle of olive oil to your wok or another (larger) pan with a pinch of salt and put on medium heat. Let it get hot.
- Add HALF the rice to the wok and let it sizzle for a couple of minutes if you want to crisp your rice a little, that’s a personal choice. Now add half of the veggie/bacon mix on top of the rice. Mix well with a sturdy tool like a wooden spatula.
- Add the remaining rice, then the remaining veggie/bacon mix on top of that.
- Add ¾ of the scallion to the mix and blend throughout. Set aside the rest to garnish your rice.
- At this point, you will need two cooking utensils to manage the quantity of rice. I use my big wooden spatula paddle and my white rice cooker paddle. You want to mix everything until it's very well combined.
- LAST STEP: pour the beaten eggs directly onto the fried rice. I like to pour it in a swirl so it is evenly distributed. The rice is extremely hot at this point so be careful not to burn yourself. The egg will cook completely so don’t worry that you are going to eat raw egg. You will see how fast the egg cooks and coats the rice giving it a slightly yellow hue. Mix in the egg well until it's coating all the rice, then serve.
Notes
- I prefer using sushi rice for fried rice because it’s a strong rice that can withstand the tossing around the wok later. I use a brand called Nishiki which you can find in the rice or international aisle of your local grocery store. Short or medium grain white rice works well too. I would not recommend basmati rice for this.
- To save a little time you can cook the pound of bacon the day before and leave it in the fridge. But remember to reserve the bacon fat because you will need 1 tablespoon for the recipe if you choose to use it.
- I’ve heard many people say they cook the rice ahead of time and that fried rice is better when made with chilled rice. My friend in Taiwan said she even freezes her rice and throws it in the wok right from the freezer. I did try using chilled rice at one point, and it was an epic fail for me. I don’t know if it’s because I use sushi rice which tends to clump together more than medium-grain rice or what. But it didn’t come out right.
- If you like scrambled egg in your rice you can beat an egg, scramble in a separate pan and add the scrambled egg to the final product. I’ve done that many times too and it’s great.
- Crazy as it sounds, the Taiwan version I was obsessed with actually had raisins in it. If you are feeling bold, add ¾ cup to your wok when you’re putting the whole dish together. It’s really delicious.
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