Fried Rice with Shrimp and Chinese bacon

This is a variation on Yeung Chow fried rice. A fried rice dish usually made with peas, roasted pork (char siu) and shrimp.

Instead of char siu I used Lap Yuk or Chinese bacon. It’s sold in thin dark strips of marinated and dried pork. If you’re unable to find lap yuk, you could use char siu, strips of regular bacon, sticky pork belly or even chicken.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

⅔ cup rice (uncooked)

1 cup water

¾ – 1 cup shrimp (peeled)

½ cup Chinese bacon, in strips

About ¼ cup (frozen) peas

1 egg

Soy sauce

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

Sesame oil

Flavorless oil for frying

Soak the Chinese bacon for a couple of hours or steam it for 10-20 minutes and cut into small pieces.

Make sure you prepare the rice well in advance so it has time to cool.

Steamed rice

I always use jasmin or pandan rice with the absorption method. For unwashed rice I use a ratio of 1 cup rice to 1½ cup water. For washed rice I use 1 cup rice to 1 cup water.

Use a pan with a heavy bottom and a lid. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add the ⅔ cup of rice. Stir the rice, cover with the lid and let it cook at the lowest heat possible for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.

Never use warm freshly cooked rice for fried rice. It will go mushy or clumpy.

The fried rice

Add a little oil to a wok and scramble the egg into small pieces. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Add a little oil to the wok and fry the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant.

Add the bacon and fry until some of the fat has rendered out. Add the shrimp and fry until just cooked.

If the pan has become slightly drier, add a bit more oil to fry the rice.

Turn the heat on high, add the rice. Fry until the rice has loosened and heated through.

Add the peas and the scrambled egg. Warm through and season with a few drops of sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce.

I used yellow onion because I didn’t have any green onion. If you want to use green onion, add it along with the peas and the egg.

You could serve it along with some chili paste or sriracha to give it a spicy kick.

For a vegetarian version replace the shrimp and bacon with vegetables like napa cabbage, corn, carrots, bok choy or spinach.