Chicken Fried Rice

This is an absolutely yummy, fast and healthy dinner/lunch/snack, good for using up leftovers and various ingredients I keep the fridge/freezer and pantry stocked with at all times. I swear I haven't been adding any crack cocaine, but you'd think I had, given its tendency to be addictive ("can we have that again tonight? pleeeaaase?").

Serves 2 with enough leftovers for next lunch/dinner; or 4, I guess ... if you have to.

Ingredients:

Method:

Once rice has cooked, spoon onto a lightly greased (I use canola oil for preference) baking tray, tossing with a fork so it cools faster.

Heat a couple tbspns canola oil in a wok. heat wok until smoking, then add chicken fillets (nb: whole, not cut up or shredded or anything ... yet). Cook well, so golden brown on each side. Remove to a chopping board and allow to cool. When cool, tear each fillet into shreds using two forks.

Finely slice spring onions. Slice bacon cross-wise into 1.5 cm pieces. Add to hot wok and fry until half-way to crisp. Add in chicken shreds and spring onions, and toss through until chicken is browned a little more and bacon is completely crisp and spring onions are cooked but still crunchy. Remove wok from heat.

Beat eggs with two tbspns water and a little salt. Heat a small non-stick frying pan on the still-hot element (I only use one cooktop element with this recipe and leave it on all the time; the trick is to have ingredients prepared and ready for next stage; speed cooking). Add about one tspn canola oil, swirl in pan, and when pan is hot pour in eggs. Now, some people like to make thin omelettes which they then roll up and slice crosswise, but I like to scramble the egg so it forms little balls and bits (um). This is NOT the way I prepare scrambled eggs normally, please note! Remove pan from heat. Put chicken, bacon and spring onions into the pan with the eggs - this is just a "holding venue" and to keep everything warm while you get on with the next step.

There should be enough oil left in the wok that you don't need to add more; when smoking toss in rice. Fry, tossing and turning continuously with a wok chan so rice doesn't stick. Dribble soy sauce over - probably about 2 - 3 tbspns but I "measure" by making about six passes across the top of the rice with the soy sauce bottle. I'm so precise.

Dissolve stock powder in about half a teacup of boiling water, add to rice (don't use too much liquid at any stage as the rice will just get gluggy; you want a fairly dry mixture with individual rice grains distinct and separate, unlike a risotto where the idea is for the consistency to be somewhat soupy and moist). Add all spices and herbs, and keep tossing. The rice will take on the colouring of the soy sauce, a nice light brown (I don't like too much soy sauce a la takeaway restaurants). with flecks of red and green from the chilli and coriander.

Add frozen peas and chicken, bacon, spring onion and egg mixture. Toss so well-combined and all ingredients are nice and hot and peas are thawed out and cooked (say about five minutes).

Take off heat (finally turning off element) and serve in big deep bowls with chopsticks (or forks for the wusses).

YUM.

For the next day, it heats up really nicely in the microwave (or "the jukebox" as I now refer to it having read Kitchen Confidential), either in a microwavable container or bowl covered with cling film.

NOTES:    You can replace the chicken and bacon with veggies eg red and green peppers, sprouts, snowpeas etc if you want to make a vegetarian version - I've done this too and it is delish.  And of course you can use a little fresh minced- or finely-chopped chilli and garlic instead of the dried variety - I use dried herbs and spices as much for convenience as anything; as always though, fresh is best.