Noodles and Rice

Rainbow Fried Rice

by Stef on April 18th, 2006

Okay, I promise this will be my LAST fried rice post for a LOOOONG while. I just couldn’t resist, we had people over 2 weekends ago and to make the rice more interesting, I made this. Of course it’s really not my own invention, in the Philippines you go to parties and there’s always one version of this or another. I’ve also seen different recipes for “rainbow” fried rice in Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese cookbooks. I’m sure there are others. The point simply is to make the fried rice as colorful as you possibly can. I’d love to get some blue or indigo in there (eggplant?) though I’m not sure how well that would go over with kids. Might be worth a try!

8 oz. bacon, chopped up
1/4 cup each chopped red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons minced garlic
5 cups cooked rice (preferably cooked the day before and refrigerated overnight, then “pressed” into service the next day)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Fry up the bacon over medium heat in a dry wok/large skillet, until the fat renders. You want to get about 3 tablespoons of fat. Discard excess fat, or reserve it for some other use, such as frying country potatoes (yummy!). Remove bacon using a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and set aside.

Add peppers, onion, and garlic to wok and stir-fry 3 minutes until garlic is just golden and onion is a bit limp. Add rice and stir until well-combined, pressing on the rice chunks to separate the grains — be patient, this may take a while. You’ll have to wait for the rice to warm up a bit, then press again, until every grain is freed from its cold clingy state. Repeat as needed. When everything is nicely uniform, and the colors of the “rainbow” are dotted all over the rice, sprinkle in your soy sauce, salt, pepper and give it a good stir. Under and over you go with your spatula, so that the seasonings and soy sauce is well-distributed. Sprinkle the sesame oil over and give everything a final stir. You’re ready to party!

Other things you can use for a rainbow fried rice:

- diced-up carrots
- peas! Now what could be easier than that?
- bits of ham, and if you do, might as well throw some pineapple bits in there.
- roast pork, chopped up
- shrimp for a bit of pink
- fake crab sticks — I wouldn’t, but there’s an idea for you
- scallions/green onions
- use red onions for some pizzazz
- that eggplant I was telling you about earlier
- time for you to come up with some of your own ideas:)

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POSTED IN: Quick and Easy, Rice Dishes