5 slices thick cut bacon
for the omelet:
1 green onion, chopped (green parts only)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
canola oil
For the rice:
1 cup sushi rice*
a couple drops sesame oil
sesame seeds
For the Chinese broccoli:
4-5 stalks Chinese broccoli (gai lan), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce or kecap manis
1-2 tablespoons oyster sauce
To serve:
light soy sauce or kecap manis
extra chopped green onion
Directions:
For the rice:
Make the rice according to package instructions but adding a couple drops of sesame oil and some sesame seeds to the water. This time I used the liquid leftover from rehydrating the mushrooms for the omelet for a little extra flavor instead of water.
For the omelet:
Cover dried mushrooms with hot water for 20 minutes, then squeeze the liquid out and cut into thin strips. In a small bowl, beat eggs with the sesame oil and the green onions. Cook like an omelet in a large hot skillet, tilting to spread the egg mixture across the surface of the pan, about 2 minutes. When the top of the omelet is almost set, flip the omelet and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Remove to a plate and roll the omelet into a tight coil then slice it into thin, even strips. It should then uncoil, leaving you with long strips of egg.
For the Chinese broccoli:
Heat the oil in a wok. Stir fry the garlic then add the Chinese broccoli. Stir fry until the greens are starting to wilt, then stir in the soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Meanwhile: Fry the bacon in a large skillet. Drain onto paper towel-lined plates then cut into small pieces. Set aside.
To serve: toss the cooked rice, bacon, Chinese broccoli and omelet together. Drizzle with soy sauce. Sprinkle with green onion. EAT!
*I like Koshi rice which is really tasty Japanese variety called Koshihikari grown here in the US, but any good quality sushi rice will do.
Yield: 2-4 servings
My thoughts:
This recipe grew out of Matt’s memory of an high school friend mentioning that she would eat bacon rice for breakfast. At the time he thought it was odd but once he told me about it, we realized that it actually sounded kind of good. We weren’t entirely sure what was in it so we came up with this, a sort of pan-Asian un-fried rice. The very few mentions of bacon rice I could found after we made if for the first time were mostly for Japanese American homestyle bacon fried rice or of visits to “bacsilog” -bacon, egg & garlic fried rice- stalls in the Philippines. Frankly, I am not sure if fried rice is quite what I want to start my day off with. My version is slightly more dressed up and I bet, a bit fresher tasting. Despite the bacon, this recipe yields a decidedly non greasy meal, especially if you use thick, center cut bacon which generally is high in flavor but lower in fat and then thoroughly drain the slices.
Another pro in the un-fried column is that despite our 3x+ a week consumption of sushi rice, I almost never have leftover rice. Making the rice the day I actually want to eat it, rather than having to think ahead and make it the day before so I can make fried rice, is much easier and by the time the rice is done, all of the other components should be ready.
While we eat this more often than I’d care to admit, I never thought I’d post the recipe. Bacon rice what we make when I am too tired to come up with something new and/or am tired of photographing everything that comes out of the kitchen. It’s made up entirely of ingredients we pretty much always have on hand and is really quick to put together. Despite its undisputed deliciousness, I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in an actual recipe. I changed my mind after mentioning making it a couple times on Twitter and I was overwhelmed with recipe requests. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, bacon is always a hit!
So here it is. Written out it looks a little complicated but it really just a bunch of little steps that can pretty much be completed at the same time for a meal that takes approximately 30 minutes to make. We like to have it as a weeknight dinner or for a weekend breakfast/brunch before heading out to a busy day. Consider yourself forwarded, once you make it for the first time you will want to make it again and again.
A few notes:
I like to make it with some vegetables because it makes the dish into more of a complete meal but if you are in a hurry or want to serve this for breakfast (and are vegetable adverse in the AM) you can leave them out.
You can also vary the vegetables. I love Chinese broccoli so I used that but it is also tasty made with other leafy greens like baby bok choy, Shanghai cabbage. tatsoi or even spinach, prepared in the same way.
Other variations: Add some chopped shrimp to the omelet. Add some cubed tofu or fresh mushrooms to the vegetable mix. Using the kecap manis (a palm sugar-sweetened soy sauce) will give you a sort of sweet-smoky-salty bacon rice that is an interesting variation on what we typically make.
Using bacon is very common! Well, we use Chinese cured sausage, which is just like pancetta but sweeter.
SK-Yup, I think bacon rice is one of those things that people eat but don’t exactly use a recipe or discuss it much. Which why I was so suprised at the dozens of requests for the recipes I received!
I had a Filipino co-worker who ate a couple of rashers of bacon on a small bowl of plain white rice for lunch all the time. She was tiny thing, but still it didn’t strike me as much lunch. You recipe sounds more like a meal than what she used to eat.
regards,
Theresa
Mmmmmm!
Thanks for posting this! Now I know what you’ve been twittering about!
Well, I’m going to need about 10 more pieces of bacon 🙂 but it sounds like a good breakfast to me!
That sounds SO good! I’m so excited because I have all of those ingredients on hand, except for Chinese broccoli, but I’ll use the chard I do have instead. I wish I could cook it right now, but lunch tomorrow will do. 🙂
Yeah, thanks for posting this. Tasty food that’s easy to make when you’re tired and yet is something different…very welcome!
My Grandmother made something very similar to bacon rice that she called “egg rice.” It was something we ate for dinner fairly often when she had leftover rice to use. She would start by frying slices in a pan – maybe 3 or 4. She would then beat a couple of eggs, then scramble them in the bacon grease. After they were scrambled, she would add the rice and fry it in the bacon grease with the egg. She would then plate the egg rice and crumble the bacon over the top. I couldn’t get enough of this when I was little. Yours, however, is very appealing to my tastes now!
Yum!
Looks and sound delicious!
=]
You said Bacon. I’m so there.
That looks fantastic, I cant wait to make it!
this makes me want to go back to eating meat. i’ll try it without the bacon, but i just know it won’t be as good.
This rice looks super delish.
You’re awesome!
You had me at bacon… but seriously, gorgeous combination, especially using sushi rice.