Chicken Fried Rice

Method

1. Place the rice and 1½ cups cold tap water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered over high heat. Reduce heat to low, stir, cover and simmer on low heat for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Spoon the rice into a sieve and rinse until the rice feels cool. Drain well. Spread onto a baking tray. Refrigerate, uncovered for 2 hours or until cold.

   Tip: Spreading the rice onto a tray and refrigerating uncovered allows it to dry on the surface, this prevents it going ‘gluggy’ when stir-frying. If you're short on time, freeze the rice for 1 hour.

   Tip: Alternatively, you can use 2-3 cups of leftover rice. Simply refrigerate the leftover rice.

2. Place the oil, shallots, garlic and Smoked Sausage/Bacon in a cold wok (see tip). Place over medium heat and cook, stir frying for 5 minutes until shallots are light golden. Add the tomato sauce, soy and chili oil. Stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and add the chicken. Stir-fry 3-5 minutes until chicken is hot and starts to become crispy on the edges. Add the peppers and bean sprouts, stir fry for 1 minute.

   Tip: By starting with a cold wok the shallots and garlic will cook slowly, which allows them to soften and become sweet before golden.

3. With your hands, scatter over the rice, breaking up any clumps. Stir-fry until hot. Remove from the heat and stir through the green onions.
4. Spoon the fried rice into bowls. Top each with a fried egg, sprinkle with fried shallots and cilantro and a drizzle of chili oil.
5. Tip: Chili oil is available in the Asian section of the supermarket. You can replace with chili sauce or just leave out of the recipe.