Fried Rice

This is a very popular dish that is now very well known anywhere. Here is my twist on the classic Asian dish.

Born and raised in Asia, I cooked my first fried rice at age 12; and even though others may not be as familiar with this dish, I wouldn't say it is a challenge. A co-worker of mine (she was Italian), once asked me how to make fried rice. I told her the steps quickly and she was so confused with lots of questions. Later I found out that, from her point of view, I missed out a lot of steps. Because I have grown up with this dish, the little steps may slip over me head, so bear with me!

Fried rice is a perfect dish for cleaning the fridge. This morning we had some left over bacon and breakfast sausages. Here is the fried rice from my kitchen:

Ingredients 

1 cup cooked white Jasmine rice
2 springs of green onions
4 slices of bacon
2 breakfast sausages
2 eggs 
1/2 cup frozen vegetables

Note:

• The above noted ingredients are for 2 servings.
• When I said 1 cup of cooked rice, I mean the real measuring cup, not the little plastic cup comes with the rice cooker. One cup of that little rice cooker cup is equivalent to 3/4 cup of a measuring cup.
• The cooked rice MUST be at least one day old. If you have none in the fridge but are really craving for some fried rice, make a fresh batch with a bit less water than usual. Lay out the hot cooked rice on a baking sheet to cool it down completely before cooking. If you are a novice cook, old cooked rice yields a higher successful rate.

How

1. Slice the green onions. Separate the whites and greens.
2. Cut the bacon and breakfast sausages into small pieces.
3. Heat up a frying pan then in goes the bacon. Bacon has a lot of fat so I skipped the oil. If you use other leaner meat, add some oil before adding any ingredient into the pan.
4. Cook the bacon on medium heat. When the oil starts coming out of the bacon, add breakfast sausages and the white slices of the green onions.
   
5. When you can smell the green onions, add the rice. Press with the spatula to break the big crumbles of rice apart.
   
6. When all the rice is covered with oil and mixed well with the ingredients, make a "well" in the middle.
   
7. Crack the eggs into the well and beat them with the spatula to mix the yolk and white together. Don't touch it and let it cook for a bit (about a minute). When the eggs are semi cooked, mix in the rice. Adding the eggs this way will give you some scramble egg pieces as well as coating the rice with eggs.
   
8. Continue to stir fry the rice. Turn up the heat if it is not sizzling. When the eggs are fully cooked (i.e. the mixture is no longer soggy), add the frozen vegetables and mix well.
   
9. Continue to stir fry the rice. Use the spatula to separate any crumbled rice. When everything is well mixed and separated, add salt or soy sauce to taste. Then add the remaining green onions (the green parts).
   
10. Serve hot. You may serve it with extra green onion slices, toasted sesame seeds, or any toasted nuts.

Fried rice is very versatile that you may add or substitute any meat, vegetables, fruit, or nuts. Timing is the key. Just remember the following rule of thumbs:

• If the meat is raw, cook the meat first, set it aside and add to the fried rice at the end, after the eggs are cooked. If it is seafood, add it even later to avoid over cooking.
• If adding fresh fruit, like pineapples, add it at the very very end. You don't want to cook the fresh fruit to make the rice soggy.
• If adding dried fruit, soak it in warm water for 15 minutes first. Add the dried fruit into the fried rice after the eggs are cooked - you don't want to coat it with eggs.
• If mixing the nuts into the fried rice, toast the nuts first and add it after the pan is off the heat to keep the crunchiness. I prefer to sprinkle the nuts on the serving plates to keep it crunchy to the last bite. 
• If adding fresh vegetable such as diced carrots, broccoli pieces, or pumpkin, first blanch the diced vegetable to 50% cooked. Add it into the fried rice at the same time as adding frozen vegetable.