My Japanese Mother-in-law's Fried Rice

My Japanese Mother-in-law taught me to make fried rice.  I'm sure it was a mixed version of several types of fried rice from the many cultures in Hawaii.  One important factor in making authentic Japanese fried rice is to get the sticky rice.

This recipe was always a big hit when I was catering weddings.  And my family loves it!  It goes great with beef, chicken, pork and fish.  I like to serve fried rice with Teriyaki Beef.

Chinese Fried Rice is different than Japanese Fried Rice mainly because of the type of rice used.  In Chinese Fried Rice, a small grain rice is used and it is not sticky.  In Japanese Fried Rice, the sticky rice is used.  My children grew up eating the sticky rice and love it!  I use Botan Calrose Rice.  As you can tell we use a lot of rice by the size of this bag.  I purchased this at my Asian market but my local grocery store, Meijer, also has it.

JAPANESE FRIED RICE (MY MOTHER-IN-LAWS RECIPE)

Rice Cooker or Pot with a lid

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rice
• ¾ cup carrots, diced
• ¾ cup green peppers, diced
• ½ cup green onions, thinly sliced
• ½ lb bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
• 2 eggs, scrambled optional
• water or chicken broth to cover rice in pot
• ¼ cup soy sauce

Instructions:

Cook 3 cups rice in 4 cups water until done.  Set aside, can completely cool and can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Saute bacon in skillet until crisp, maybe 5 minutes.  Remove and divide into 2 portions.  Add diced carrots, diced green peppers, diced or sliced green onions into same pan and saute in the bacon grease until semi soft.  Add ½ the bacon back into the pan along with the 3 cups of rice and stir.  Add the scrambled eggs.  Add ¼ cup soy sauce and mix well.   You can add more soy sauce if you feel it needs it.  Place in your serving platter and top with the remaining ½ cup bacon.  Serve warm.  Delicious!  Hope you have some leftovers because it reheats very well the next day

.