Quick & Easy Fried Rice with Chicken Stir Fry

My mum was always the main cook in our household. If she was sick, or went out with friends, or was away for work, it meant that it was fried rice night. Dad considers it his specialty. In fact apart from BBQ's and bacon and eggs, the only other thing I've seen my Dad cook is a bacon and beans recipe he learnt from his time living in America. I think we can conclude that he loves bacon. So of course his fried rice recipe also includes bacon. 

You know when you grow up eating something home made and thinking its 'THE BEST', only to have someone else taste it and tell you otherwise. Well, since moving out of home, I've made this recipe many times for multiple flat mates and surprisingly only ever received glowing compliments. So, I think I'm on to a winner.

Rice is quite cheap to buy in bulk and is so versatile. It's been feeding humans for over 5000 years and is the second most produced grain in the world. If I am really time poor or not overly hungry I have the fried rice on its own as a meal. Otherwise, I'll use it as a side dish with something like a basic chicken stir-fry. 

Side note: If you eat a lot of rice and don't already have one, I couldn't more strongly recommend buying a rice cooker. Rice cookers are an absolute dream, a cheap one is all you need to get the job done, they save time and effort, and cook perfect rice EVERY time!

SERVES: 5

Fried Rice

Ingredients:

3 cups Jasmine Rice

3 1/2 cups Water

1 cup Frozen Pees & Corn

6 Bacon Rashers

1 Egg

3 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce

Side note: I add the Soy, Worcestershire and Tomato sauce to taste. Use the measurements as a rough guide but feel free to add more of each to suit your individual taste. 

Method:

1. Put the rice and water into the rice cooker and turn it on. 
2. While the rice cooks, heat a frying pan on the stove top and cut up the bacon into small even pieces. 
3. Cook the bacon on the frying pan until it begins to turn brown. 
4. Once the rice has finished cooking add it to the frying pan and stir. 
5. Add the pees and corn and stir every 30 seconds or so to prevent the rice sticking to the pan while the pees and corn cook. 
6. Add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Tomato sauce and stir. 
7. Move everything in the pan to one side to make some space to scramble the egg. 
8. Once the egg is scrambled, mix in with the rest of the rice (If you prefer not to have egg in the rice that is fine, it will still taste delicious, simply skip steps 7 & 8). 
9. Your fried rice is ready to eat!

Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

6 Chicken thigh fillets

1 Broccoli

2 Carrots

2 handfuls of Green Beans

3 Garlic cloves finely chopped/ minced

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

6 Tbsp Honey

2 Tbsp Cornflour (optional)

1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Side note: The cornflour will make the sauce thicker. I very rarely use cornflour when I whip up a quick stir-fry.

Method:

1. Mix 1/4 cup of Soy Sauce, 3 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp cornflour, 1 Tbsp brown sugar and 1 Garlic clove for chicken marinate.
2. Put the chicken thighs into the marinate bowl and mix around to cover with marinate.
3. Heat a frying pan on the stove top.
4. Use a chopping board to but the broccoli stalks into smaller bite size pieces. Peel and chop the carrots, into coin shape pieces. Top and tail the green beens and chop in half. Sit vegetables in a bowl to the side.
5. Add some oil to the frying pan and put the chicken thighs onto the pan. I try to pour about half of the marinade onto the tops of the chicken thighs in the pan.
6. After about 4 minutes flip the chicken thighs over and pour the rest of the marinade over the tops of the chicken.
7. Once the chicken is a nice brown colour it is ready to take out of the pan. Put the chicken thighs onto a chopping board and use a sharp knife to chop the chicken into small bite size pieces.
8. Add the vegetables to the pan and stir. Add the remaining Soy sauce, Honey, Garlic and Cornflour. 
9. If you have a lid for your frying pan, you can pop it on for 2-3 minutes. The steam will help to cook the vegetables.
10. Add the chopped chicken back into the pan and stir around.
11. Your chicken stir-fry is ready to eat!

I hope you enjoy these recipes. Please leave comments with any questions or your results.

 Alysse Scotton