Dill Sistas: Bacon Pineapple Fried Rice

I am a sucker for fried rice. When I was first living on my own and trying to get the hang of feeding myself on a regular basis, fried rice was a staple. It's a great way to use up odds and ends in the fridge, so the possibilities are endless! Over the years I have learned little things here and there that have really brought up my fried rice game.

Want to know the biggest secret?

Day old rice.

Yep. That's the biggest bit right there. Fresh rice is delicious, but it won't fry. It'll steam, sure, but is that really what you want? No. You want the chewy, almost-greasy-but-not-quite fried rice that will welcome you without judgement and with open arms. So, for the best results, either use leftover rice from another meal or make it the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight. If you're really pressed for time or forgot to think ahead, make fresh rice and spread it out on a cookie sheet to let it cool quickly for an hour or two. That will also give you similar results.

This fried rice utilizes the bacon fat to fry the rice in, which in my humble opinion is the way to go. It saturates the rice in bacon flavour, so you can stretch out that package of bacon for another meal. With the rising price of pork, I think that's a splendid idea.

Bacon Pineapple Fried Rice

Author: Amanda
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

6 cups day-old white rice
1/2 package bacon
2 eggs
1 white onion
1/4 fresh pineapple, cored
1 red bell pepper
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 bunch cilantro (optional)

Directions
Slice bacon and fry in wok until crispy. Dice onion, bell pepper, and pineapple. Wash and finely chop cilantro. Remove bacon from wok, set aside, and drain fat, reserving 1-2 tablespoons of fat in wok. Scramble eggs in wok, and set aside. Use the spatula to break up eggs into small pieces. Wash wok if necessary, and return approximately 3 tablespoons of fat into wok. Saute onion in bacon fat on medium-high heat until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add rice, and fry for 7-10 minutes, flipping rice mixture frequently with spatula. Rice should "pop" while frying. Add bacon, pineapple, and bell pepper to mixture and continue to fry an additional 5 minutes. Add soy sauce to taste, and fry an additional 2 minutes to allow moisture to evaporate. Remove from heat, and add eggs and cilantro. Stir to combine, and serve.

Step-by-Step Photos

Make your rice the day before, and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

I used half a 500g package of bacon. Slice it up ahead of time so that it will crisp up evenly. I find that easier than trying to cut up crisped bacon, anyhow.

Go ahead and crisp that bacon up in the wok. Once it's nice and crispy, turn off the heat and remove the bacon and set aside. Drain the bacon fat, but reserve it for later. Keep 1-2 tablespoons in the bottom of the wok for the eggs.

Scramble the eggs and fry them in the bacon fat on medium-low heat. Once they're sufficiently done, remove them from the wok and set aside. If there's some egg left in the wok like mine here, it's a smart idea to wash it out quickly before continuing.

At some point, maybe while frying the bacon or eggs, dice up an onion.

Start frying that onion in about 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

While the onion is frying, capitalize on that time and prepare the bell pepper and fresh pineapple.

Once the onion is translucent, add the rice and crank up the heat to medium-high. This is where you have to exercise some patience. Frying rice does take a little bit of time, but if you want that signature fried rice texture, there's no way around it. Flip the rice mixture around frequently so that all of the rice gets a chance to get to the bottom of the wok, where the heat is the most intense. After a few minutes, you should start to hear the rice crackle and make "popping" sounds. This is exactly what you are looking for. Keep going.

After 7-10 minutes, this is what the fried rice should look like.

Now you can throw those add-ons in, and keep up that frying technique for another 5 minutes or so.

Add the soy sauce to taste. I usually add a little bit, stir it in, and taste to see if it's enough. That way you won't accidentally over salt all of your hard work. Keep the heat on to allow extra moisture to evaporate. I mean, after working this hard for that delicious texture, the last thing you want to do is make soggy rice, right? Right.