Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice

Growing up, I never ate fried rice. Eggs in rice always just sounded strange to me. I stuck with my plain old steamed white rice whenever we ordered Chinese food. Then I met Joe, and in the early days of our relationship we ate Chinese food a lot. And he always ordered fried rice. After much pestering from him, I finally consented to trying it, and realized that I’d been a fool for so long. Fried rice is delicious! In the years since, I’ve even developed my own at-home version that we enjoy frequently.

This recipe, my friends, takes fried rice to a completely new level with the addition of bacon. Yes, bacon! It’s also loaded with tons of fresh veggies to balance out all that bacon, and it’s this wonderful, savory, salty, delicious thing with all kinds of great textures: crisp bacon, soft eggs, peas that pop and bean sprouts that crunch. I served it with honey teriyaki chicken, which was a delicious sweet counterpoint to the rice, but this rice also would have been good on its own. It was definitely the star of this meal. This recipe makes a ton, so you’ll be eating it for days, but trust me: That is definitely not a bad thing.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice
chicken adapted from Rachael Ray; rice adapted from Cooking with Cristine

For the chicken:

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

For the rice:

1 egg, beaten
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce

1. For the chicken, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned and cook through. In a separate bowl, combine chicken broth, ginger, honey and teriyaki sauce. Pour over chicken. Reduce heat and simmer until serving.

2. For the bacon, heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet. Pour egg into wok. As egg sets, lift edges letting uncooked portion flow underneath. When egg is done, move to plate and set aside.

3. In same wok, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings.

4. Saute mushrooms and onions in bacon drippings. Stir in rice, bean sprouts, peas, soy sauce, and bacon. Chop egg into small pieces; stir into wok and heat through.

5. Serve chicken over rice.