Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

Chef notes

Bacon fried rice started off out of necessity! I wanted to make a quick meal for the kids but only had overnight rice, eggs and scallions. It would take too long to defrost some meat. But I did have bacon, and thought, well, that's meat! And really yummy meat. So I cut up the bacon, threw it into the wok and cooked it up. The leftover oil gave me another new inspiration to use the fat for cooking the eggs and rice. It instantly became my family's favorite fried rice.

Technique tip: Don't over-scramble the eggs; cook them only until lightly scrambled. This keeps the eggs fluffy and allows the white and yellow to remain visible. The cooking wine also helps prevent them from becoming dry.

Swap options: Substitute ground turkey, chicken, shrimp or pork for the bacon. For a vegetarian version, omit the meat and add extra vegetables. Vegetable oil can also be used instead of bacon grease.

Special equipment: A large wok and a second large wok or skillet.