TRINITY FRIED RICE with STIR FRY VEGETABLES & BBQ PORK RINDS

A lot bit different in tone than the other items cooked this month, it had to be included because I believe fried rice is one of the eight best food creations in human history. A true ‘trinity’ in Asian cooking is gingerroot, garlic, and lemongrass. If you can’t get your fried rice or other attempts at Asian food to taste more authentic and satisfying, try that combination. Garlic and ginger are fairly common but lemongrass can be a challenge, I’ve used lemon juice and lemon zest both in its place and, a couple weeks prior, I tried lemon pepper. I have used lemon pepper before but not with the technique I am currently using. I really liked how it worked so I decided to just use lemon pepper instead of lemongrass. This fried rice is a bit different anyways, a lot of firsts going on with this, so the lemon pepper isn’t going to ruin the integrity of it in any way, at least not by itself.

 

30 ml. (2 tbsp.) Soy Sauce

14 g. (2 tsp.) Hoisin Sauce

24 g. (4 tsp.) BBQ Sauce

15 ml. (1 tsp.) Sesame Oil

1 g. (1/4 tsp.) Sugar

 

* Combine soy sauce, hoisin, bbq sauce, sesame oil, and sugar into a consistent sauce

 

85 g. (3 oz.) Steak-cut Bacon (diced)

14 ml. (1 tbsp.) Vegetable Oil

 

* Heat oil over high-medium heat

* Add bacon and brown

 

This thickness of bacon cooks more like ham than bacon, so crispness isn’t the exact aim, rather a more consistent browning is what I am going for.

 

60 g. (1/2 c.) diced White or Yellow Onion

20 g. (2 tbsp.) minced Gingerroot

20 g. (2 tbsp.) minced Garlic

 

* Saute onion, ginger, and garlic about a minute, careful not to burn

 

225 g. (2 c.) frozen Stir Fry Vegetables (thawed)

Lemon Pepper

 

If adding something like chicken or beef, I’d probably use only half the amount of vegetables used here. This is also the first time I’ve used frozen stir-fry vegetables in fried rice.

 

* Add vegetables and toss with garlic and ginger

* Season with lemon pepper

* Saute for about three minutes, stirring to prevent burning

 

180 g. (1 c.) dry Jasmine Rice (about 3 c. cooked, refrigerated)

Soy Sauce-Hoisin-BBQ Sauce-Sesame Oil Mixture

 

* Crumble the cooled rice evenly into pan

* Add sauce, mix well until consistent

* Keep over high-mdium heat for 7-10 minutes, continue cooking and tossing until desired doneness is reached

* When done, remove from heat

 

Cilantro (coarsely chopped)

 

* Add cilantro to finished fried rice and toss well and plate as desired

 

Sriracha

Everything Sesame Seed Seasoning

Pork Rinds

 

* Top with Sriracha and sesame seed seasoning

* Crush pork rinds over top as desired.

 

Pork rinds had to be added because they’re supposedly one of the most unhealthy foods there is and that’s another one of the subplots of this month cooking. Plus, I was very curious about pork rinds on fried rice. Personally, I think they work better at incorporating a BBQ flavor than BBQ sauce. With all the other ingredients being what they are, it can be a challenge to get BBQ sauce to stand out without a fried rice that doesn't seem fried at all and is kinda wet looking. By adding crushed pork rinds at the last minute it's kinda just the right amoutn of BBQ flavor.

Done