Back when I was a poor world traveler, I used to take trips as a courier, which gave me free flights to amazing places, but I couldn’t check luggage, so I got very good at carrying two weeks worth of clothes in a backpack. It also meant I spent a lot of time sleeping in airports because I couldn’t afford a hotel room. Because airport food is so overpriced, I got good at finding the food bargains that are hidden in most international airports. For example, while not on the menu at Pandora Express in the Atlanta airport, I discovered, while chatting up a very pretty worker, that you can order a big bowl of fried rice for a couple bucks, which is how I came to fall in love with this side dish, that’s also a meal.
Fried rice gets a bad rap for being unhealthy, but look at the list of fresh ingredients and tell me what’s unhealthy. Okay, for pedantics there’s bacon and sesame oil, but they don’t know anything about fine dining anyway, so who cares what they think. This is a great date recipe because it’s simple to make, not overly filling so you can wow your date with dessert, and it’s just plain fun to eat with chopsticks.
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups Cooked Rice – Cold (~1 cup uncooked)
- 2 eggs – lightly beaten
- 3 Bacon slices – thick cut
- 1.5 cups Red bell pepper – diced fine (~1 pepper)
- 0.5 cups Frozen peas – thawed
- 0.5 cups Celery – sliced fine
- 1 Onion – diced fine
- 1 Carrot – peeled and diced fine
- 2 TBL Fresh ginger – grated or chopped fine
- 1 TBL Toasted Sesame oil
- 2 TBL Rice wine vinegar
- 2 oz. Soy Sauce
- Green onions – for topping
- Broccoli and garlic – optional
Process
- Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Cook rice and let it cool. Having a rice cooker is best, but it’s not hard to cook in a sauce pan, just don’t add butter or rinse after cooking, you want the starches left on the rice so it’s sticky.
- Fry bacon and chop into bits once it cools.
- Heat saute pan on med-high. Once warm, add sesame oil and let it warm. Add ginger and cook 1-2 mins.
- Add onion and cook 3mins.
- Lower temp to medium and add red pepper, carrots, celery. Cook 4 mins. If using broccoli or garlic, add it now.
- Add rice and cook 4 mins.
- Push rice to edges of pan creating a hole in the center of the pan. Pour lightly beaten eggs into the hole and cook 1 min., while slowly mixing the rice into the egg.
- Add the thawed peas and bacon.
- Mix 2 oz. soy sauce with 2 TBL white wine vinegar and pour over rice. Cook 3 mins.
- Serve in bowls topped with chopped green onion.
Note 1: I don’t usually make wine recommendations because everyone has a pallet that’s best for them. While I am sure many connoisseurs would say go with a bold red, like Cabernet, I like to have a dry white with this meal, like Pinot Gris. I find the high acid and soft taste pair well the subtle nuances of all the flavors at work in the fried rice.
Note 2: I like to serve a cream based dessert with this meal. Something simple like whipped cream and diced peaches. You can go with blueberries also, but stay away from strawberries & cream or pineapples & cream. Also, don’t embarrass yourself with “Cool Whip,” whip a cup of cream up fresh while you dice the peaches, that’s sure to impress.
