Last weekend my parents stopped by on their way to Florida to do the snowbird thing for a few weeks. Time with my folks always seems to involve making a few meals that I loved as a child that now my wife and children look forward to as well. At the top of the list is my dad's chicken fried rice.
The short story on how he came across this recipe was that years ago he was in car battery sales and walked into the service area of a client's shop to smell something good was cooking for lunch. The owner told my dad that every Friday he made fried rice for the shop staff. He offered a plate of chicken fried rice to my dad and needless to say, he made sure that this shop was a "Friday Client" whenever he could work it out that way. He scribbled down the recipe, came home and made us believers and some 35 years later we're still enjoying it.
My dad has always used a wok in making this but the last couple of times we've made it here, we've used the Firedisc Cooker. Set on low heat, the Firedisc Cooker works great for this recipe and the large deep disc makes for a lot of surface area to spread out the various ingredients to make sure they are fully cooked. And at the end, when all the parts are added together, mixing this huge meal is no problem at all.
I posted a step by step Instagram story when we made fried rice the other day and there were enough requests for the recipe that I figured I'd post it here for you to try for yourself. Having my dad play along for Instagram photos was a laugh but I think we nailed the pouring soy sauce into the fried rice mixture. He was a good sport and likely just relived that I was finally learning how to cook this recipe.
SHOPPING LIST:
4 Cups of Uncooked White Rice
2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Package of Beef or Pork Bacon
6-8 Eggs
2 Packages of Mushrooms
4 Bundles of Green Onions
Kikkoman Soy Sauce
Siracha to Taste
1. RICE - No photograph for this step but cook up four cups of a white rice of your choice. This is a big meal so you'll end up with 10-12 cups of cooked rice in the end. You'll be glad that you did as leftovers always taste better the next day.
2. BACON - Dice up one package of bacon and you need to use beef or pork since that rendered fat is poured off the wok and used throughout the rest of the recipe. Saute the bacon until most of the pieces are crisp. Remove and place on a plate with paper towels. Pour off the remaining bacon grease into a bowl.
3. EGGS - Scramble up six or eight eggs and quickly cook with just a little bit of the bacon grease. What's left in the wok after you poured it out is likely enough. As you scramble, break up the eggs into small pieces, remove and place in a bowl.
4. CHICKEN - Add just a little bit of the bacon grease to your wok and cook the pieces of chicken breast until they are done. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the wok and place in another bowl.
5. MUSHROOMS - Add just a little bit of the bacon grease to your wok and add in your mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms brown just a little bit. Remove them from the wok and place in a bowl.
6. GREEN ONIONS - The onions will cook up pretty quick with just a little bit of bacon grease and after they've flash fried just a bit, leave them in the wok. Now it's time to start putting things back into the wok.
7. MUSHROOMS & GREEN ONIONS - Everything that you've cooked separately can start coming together now. Give the mushrooms and green onions a quick mix and fry before moving on.
8. EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WOK - Okay, you can turn down your heat and all the bowls and plates of separate ingredients can be put together. You're about ready to mix it all up.
9. SOY SAUCE & BACON GREASE - With all your ingredients in the wok together, it's time for a heavy pour of soy sauce and add what little bit of bacon grease you still have.
10. MIX & MIX SOME MORE - Make sure that everything is mixed up and has been touched by the soy sauce. It's still cooking as you mix and you can turn off the heat if you haven't already.
11. RING THE DINNER BELL - Plate or bowl the chicken fried rice and have the soy sauce and sriracha on the table so that everyone can add to taste to their own liking.
Well, that's it for this round of "Good Eats". Unless you invited the neighbors, there will be leftovers, so enjoy those too. I had the best lunches this past week at work.
I'm sure there are many variations of this same recipe. What do you add to your fried rice?
GEAR NOTES - The Firedisc Cooker is a real winner for preparing this meal and a few others that we do as well in it. I'm thinking about just leaving it up on our back screened in porch to make it that much easier to use. We have the Original -Tall Portable Cooker and I appreciate the extra height. Keeping it seasoned is easy, especially with any recipe that involves bacon and clean up typically involves just wiping it out. I'll be adding a lid soon and ordering the Wind Helmet to maximize heat, especially when using it as a fryer. Having the Conversion Adapter Hose has been a step up giving the ability to use with a propane tank instead of the screw off propane canisters. The Firedisc Cooker has a ton of potential at home, at camp, tailgating and just about anywhere else you're cooking for a crew.
The short story on how he came across this recipe was that years ago he was in car battery sales and walked into the service area of a client's shop to smell something good was cooking for lunch. The owner told my dad that every Friday he made fried rice for the shop staff. He offered a plate of chicken fried rice to my dad and needless to say, he made sure that this shop was a "Friday Client" whenever he could work it out that way. He scribbled down the recipe, came home and made us believers and some 35 years later we're still enjoying it.
My dad has always used a wok in making this but the last couple of times we've made it here, we've used the Firedisc Cooker. Set on low heat, the Firedisc Cooker works great for this recipe and the large deep disc makes for a lot of surface area to spread out the various ingredients to make sure they are fully cooked. And at the end, when all the parts are added together, mixing this huge meal is no problem at all.
I posted a step by step Instagram story when we made fried rice the other day and there were enough requests for the recipe that I figured I'd post it here for you to try for yourself. Having my dad play along for Instagram photos was a laugh but I think we nailed the pouring soy sauce into the fried rice mixture. He was a good sport and likely just relived that I was finally learning how to cook this recipe.
SHOPPING LIST:
4 Cups of Uncooked White Rice
2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Package of Beef or Pork Bacon
6-8 Eggs
2 Packages of Mushrooms
4 Bundles of Green Onions
Kikkoman Soy Sauce
Siracha to Taste
1. RICE - No photograph for this step but cook up four cups of a white rice of your choice. This is a big meal so you'll end up with 10-12 cups of cooked rice in the end. You'll be glad that you did as leftovers always taste better the next day.
2. BACON - Dice up one package of bacon and you need to use beef or pork since that rendered fat is poured off the wok and used throughout the rest of the recipe. Saute the bacon until most of the pieces are crisp. Remove and place on a plate with paper towels. Pour off the remaining bacon grease into a bowl.
3. EGGS - Scramble up six or eight eggs and quickly cook with just a little bit of the bacon grease. What's left in the wok after you poured it out is likely enough. As you scramble, break up the eggs into small pieces, remove and place in a bowl.
4. CHICKEN - Add just a little bit of the bacon grease to your wok and cook the pieces of chicken breast until they are done. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the wok and place in another bowl.
5. MUSHROOMS - Add just a little bit of the bacon grease to your wok and add in your mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms brown just a little bit. Remove them from the wok and place in a bowl.
6. GREEN ONIONS - The onions will cook up pretty quick with just a little bit of bacon grease and after they've flash fried just a bit, leave them in the wok. Now it's time to start putting things back into the wok.
7. MUSHROOMS & GREEN ONIONS - Everything that you've cooked separately can start coming together now. Give the mushrooms and green onions a quick mix and fry before moving on.
8. EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WOK - Okay, you can turn down your heat and all the bowls and plates of separate ingredients can be put together. You're about ready to mix it all up.
9. SOY SAUCE & BACON GREASE - With all your ingredients in the wok together, it's time for a heavy pour of soy sauce and add what little bit of bacon grease you still have.
10. MIX & MIX SOME MORE - Make sure that everything is mixed up and has been touched by the soy sauce. It's still cooking as you mix and you can turn off the heat if you haven't already.
11. RING THE DINNER BELL - Plate or bowl the chicken fried rice and have the soy sauce and sriracha on the table so that everyone can add to taste to their own liking.
Well, that's it for this round of "Good Eats". Unless you invited the neighbors, there will be leftovers, so enjoy those too. I had the best lunches this past week at work.
I'm sure there are many variations of this same recipe. What do you add to your fried rice?
GEAR NOTES - The Firedisc Cooker is a real winner for preparing this meal and a few others that we do as well in it. I'm thinking about just leaving it up on our back screened in porch to make it that much easier to use. We have the Original -Tall Portable Cooker and I appreciate the extra height. Keeping it seasoned is easy, especially with any recipe that involves bacon and clean up typically involves just wiping it out. I'll be adding a lid soon and ordering the Wind Helmet to maximize heat, especially when using it as a fryer. Having the Conversion Adapter Hose has been a step up giving the ability to use with a propane tank instead of the screw off propane canisters. The Firedisc Cooker has a ton of potential at home, at camp, tailgating and just about anywhere else you're cooking for a crew.
1 comment:
Hey Cameron,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I have made it a few times now and it has become a favorite of my family as well. I have made a few substitutions, I add an onion with the mushrooms and broccoli at the very end. I have even substituted the pork bacon for its leaner cousin, turkey bacon, with success. Again, thanks for sharing.
Bryan
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