Fully-loaded Fried Rice

This is a recipe I’ve been cooking for years with very little change at all and although this is not traditional fried rice, it’s yummy all the same.

If you cook the rice the day before and store in the fridge overnight, this will allow the rice to dry out making it easier to fry.  I’ve known this about making fried rice ever since I worked in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant back in the early eighties (when I first left school).

But normally, I have an ‘inspiration’ to cook fried rice for dinner and end up making it with wet rice.  When doing so it is important to stop cooking the rice before it’s overdone and as long as the rise has been rinsed and given time to drain well, the result is a lovely moist meal and, I must say, I do prefer it this way.

Have you ever struggled to eat fried rice because it’s dry?  If so, you will like the result of using freshly cooked rice.

Clare’s Fully-loaded Fried Rice

ingredients

3 rashers of bacon – diced
1/2 cup of diced leg ham
1 cup of diced, cooked, chicken breast
1/2 cup of pineapple pieces
2 eggs
1 cup of frozen peas, corn and capsicum – thawed
1/2 cup of diced celery
1 medium-sized brown onion – diced
1 cup of uncooked, long-grain rice
1 chicken stock cube
Oil – any you like to cook with
Salt & Pepper
A dash of milk
Soy Sauce for serving

method

step 1:  Cooked the rice in salted, boiling water until tender (don’t overcook).  Drain and rinse.  Leave in the drainer, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to cool while preparing the filling.

step 2:  Cook the diced bacon to remove/render any fat and allow to drain on absorbent paper.

step 3:  Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper and (only) a dash of milk and cook omelette style.  Place aside and roughly dice when cooled.

step 4:  Add (diced) onion and celery to the frypan and cook for a few minutes.  Don’t overcook the onion.  Add the other vegetables and stir to ensure everything is cooked/heated through.

step 5:  Place the meats and vegetables in a large bowl and mix together.  Add the egg and pineapple and stir through without beating.  You don’t want to break the egg apart too much.

What you should have now is a drainer of cooked rice and a bowl of filling.

step 6:  Add some oil to the frypan (or wok) and ensure the pan is hot before adding a cup of the rice.  Season with the chicken stock cube and stir to fry the rice.  Add the rest of the rice, one cup at a time, stirring well each time.

step 7:  Add the filling one cup at a time, stirring/tossing well each time to ensure everything gets mixed and heated.  Serve immediately and add soy sauce to taste.

helpful hints

• With the excepting of the rice, everything else can be cooked in the same frypan, one step at a time.
• You can use any combination of meats and vegetables.
• I use a 50/50 ratio of rice to filling.

As usual, you can download a printable version here, or by visiting my Recipes page where all recipes are listed in alphabetical order.