Bacon Fried Rice, Camp Version
Dried rice rehydrated hard, then fried in bacon fat until the grains separate again.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Backpacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Instant or dehydrated cooked rice | 1 1/2 cups dry | leftover rice dried at home works and tastes better |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable precooked bacon | 3 oz | the fully cooked kind sold unrefrigerated, chopped small |
| Freeze-dried peas and carrots | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried garlic | 1 tbsp | minced, not powder |
| Dried ginger | 1 tsp | |
| Dried green onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Soy sauce | 2 tbsp | a small leakproof bottle |
| Vegetable oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Powdered egg | 3 tbsp | plus 3 tbsp water |
| White pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Sriracha packets | 2 | for serving |
Method
- Pour 400 ml of boiling water over the rice and vegetables in your pot, lid on. Let it sit off the heat for 8 minutes, then drain any water still standing.
- Tip the rice into a mug or bag and wipe the pot out. Whisk the egg powder with 3 tbsp water.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in the pot and pour in the egg. Stir it into loose curds, then set them aside with the rice.
- Add the rest of the oil and the bacon. Fry two minutes until the edges crisp and the fat renders out.
- Add garlic, ginger, and white parts of the green onion. Ten seconds, no longer, or the garlic turns bitter.
- Return the rice and egg. Press it flat against the hot pot, leave it a minute, then stir. Repeat twice.
- Pour the soy sauce down the side of the pot, add pepper and the rest of the green onion, and stir once. Serve with sriracha.
Restaurant fried rice needs day-old rice because fresh rice is too wet to fry. On the trail the problem is the same in reverse: rehydrated rice comes out soaked. Draining it and then letting it sit in the pot dry is what gets the grains to separate instead of turning to porridge.
The bacon is doing double duty as protein and as the cooking fat, so use the fully cooked shelf-stable kind and let it render before anything else goes in. Fresh eggs, ginger root, and scallions do not travel, so this uses egg powder and dried aromatics. Press the rice against the hot metal and leave it alone between stirs. That contact is where the browning happens.
Packing
Rice, vegetables, garlic, ginger, and green onion go in one bag. Bacon, egg powder, oil, and soy sauce each ride separately. The soy bottle goes in its own zip bag.
Variations
- Skip the bacon and use 2 tbsp more oil for a vegan version.
- Swap in a foil packet of chicken if precooked bacon is hard to find.
- A spoonful of chili crisp replaces the sriracha and adds fat.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/bacon-fried-rice