Give Basic Fried Rice An Ultra Flavorful Finish With One Savory Ingredient

Everyone knows the secret to making the best fried rice of your life is to use leftover rice. Whether it's homemade or from your favorite takeout place doesn't matter, only the amount of time that's elapsed after being cooked. Leftover rice is drier than the fresh stuff, meaning it not only crisps up better in the pan, but is also perfectly primed to soak up lots of delicious flavor, both from your favorite seasonings and sauces and from your chosen cooking fat. This means it's crucial you choose a fat you love, and no fat is more beloved than bacon drippings, making tossing your bacon grease a huge culinary mistake.

Salty and smoky, bacon fat adds a hefty hit of umami flavor to fried rice. It's also the perfect medium for giving fried rice that coveted, lightly crisp texture. You also don't need a ton since a little bit goes a long way; it may seem like you need quite a bit to coat the bottom of your pan, but it melts and spreads very quickly, especially if you use solid bacon fat you saved for cooking. Starting with less than you think you need also helps keep you from accidentally deep-frying your rice, or totally overwhelming the dish with bacony flavor. Bacon pairs beautifully with a range of other flavors too, so it's easy to customize your fried rice with a wide range of interesting ingredients, including spices, fruit, and other proteins.

Pork is one of the most frequently consumed proteins in Asia, so it's easy to take your bacon-fried rice to the next level with lots of different Asian flavors. Chinese five spice, chili crisp oil, and even good old-fashioned soy sauce are all great choices that gently offset the richness of bacon fat, cutting through it to add depth. Meanwhile, the fat's salty smokiness helps these aromatic seasonings bloom, adding nuance without necessarily increasing the intensity, which could make the dish taste unbalanced.

Just because you're using bacon drippings as your cooking fat doesn't mean you have to use pork as your protein, either. Shrimp and chicken are both delicious matches for bacon because they soak up some of that richness, transforming it to keep things from tasting flat. You can also do a little culinary fusion by taking your fried rice in the direction of a typical American breakfast; think eggs, onions and bell peppers, and even a squeeze of ketchup, with the fried rice standing in for shredded potatoes.

Acidic fruits, such as pineapple and mango, are also tasty with bacon because the combo of sweet and salty is elite. For a subtly Hawaiian style of fried rice, try pineapple with cubed Spam fried nice and crispy, or go South Asian with mango, a tiny splash of coconut milk, and a sprinkle of warm garam masala.