Recipe video above. This recipe was conceived as an emergency, ultra low-effort side dish. Just dump all the ingredients in a pan, and shove it in the oven. End result: seasoned rice that's amazingly similar to wok-tossed fried rice! Every grain of rice is perfectly cooked and fluffy, and the bacon even goes golden! Uses less liquid than the usual 1 : 1.5 rice to water ratio because we need to factor in the water that comes off the frozen vegetables (a surprising amount!). Bonus: this recipe starts with uncooked rice. No need to plan ahead with day-old cooked rice like you usually do! Add in options - like eggs, chicken, see Notes. PLEASE DO NOT stray from recommended rice per recipe. If you do, I cannot guarantee outcome!

Ingredients

Baked Fried Rice:
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice , UNCOOKED (Note 1)
2 cups chicken or veg stock , low sodium
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 2)
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (dry sherry, mirin or sake, Note 3)
2 garlic cloves , minced with crusher (straight into pan)
2 cups frozen diced veg (carrots, peas, corn mix, Note 4 fresh veg)
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 1/4 cups / 180g bacon (uncooked) or ham , chopped (I use store bought chopped bacon, Note 5)
Finishing:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup green onion , finely sliced (2 - 3 stems)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
Mix ingredients in baking dish: Place all Baked Fried Rice ingredients except bacon in a baking dish (~22 x 32cm / 9 x 13"). Stir, then spread rice evenly across pan.
Top with bacon: Scatter bacon across surface.
Bake covered 40 min: Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes.
Bake uncovered 15 min: Remove foil. Bake uncovered 15 minutes - this will colour the bacon. Liquid should be absorbed, rice should be cooked (but will seem wet, will absorb and soften while resting).
Rest 10 min: Cover loosely with foil, stand for 10 minutes.
Fluff: Add green onion and sesame oil. Fluff rice with fork, marvel at how perfectly cooked the rice grains are. Serve!
Notes
This will serve up to 6 as a side, or 4 people as a main.

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