Fusion Cooking - Rice with Bacon, Snow Peas and Water Chestnuts

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Chinese Inspired Rice, Bacon, Snow Peas and Water Chestnuts

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Fusion Cuisine is becoming more and more popular here in America and throughout the world. It is typically defined as combining two or more cuisines from different regions or countries. Simple examples are Tex-Mex cooking and taco pizzas.

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Wolfgang Puck is considered to be one of the pioneers of fusion cooking, but even earlier Richard Wing combined French and Chinese cooking in the early 1960s at his Imperial Dynasty restaurant in Hanford, California.

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I learned my basic cooking skills from my mother when I was growing up in north central Wisconsin. Later on, when I was on my own, I studied and practiced Chinese and French cooking. Until recently, I generally didn’t mix them together.

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The following recipe is one of my efforts to combine my mother’s cooking with Chinese ingredients. In this instance, I have taken a basic recipe for making a risotto like rice dish with several Chinese ingredients to create a new even tastier one-dish meal.

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Rice, bacon and onions combined with cream of chicken soup makes a tasty meal. However, if you add snow peas, water chestnuts, a couple of chopped scallions and a dash of sesame seed oil it takes it to a whole, new higher level.

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If you don’t have any snow peas handy, just add asparagus pieces, broccoli crowns or even just frozen peas. Use your imagination.

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Difficulty:

Easy

Preparation Time:

30 Minutes

Cooking Time:

60 Minutes

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Ingredients:

½ Lb. Thick Sliced Bacon (cut into ½-inch strips)

1 Medium Onion (peeled and coarsely chopped)

1 Cup of Long Grain White Rice

2 Small Cans of Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

½ Cup of Water Chestnuts (cut into quarters)

½ Cup of Snow Peas (cut in half)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Scallions (cut into pea sized pieces including the green parts)

2 Teaspoons of Sesame Seed Oil

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Preparation:

1. Cook the bacon in a large saucepan until it starts to brown but is not crisp. If you overcook it you will lose a lot of the flavor.
2. Drain off half of the fat, add the onions and cook for about a minute while stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Then add the cup of rice and continue cooking for two minutes more. Do not add any salt or pepper yet.
4. Add one cup of water and bring the mixture to a slight boil while continuing to stir.
5. Then add the two cans of cream of chicken soup, rinse the cans with equal amounts of hot water and add that to the pan too.
6. Continue cooking the mixture over low heat with occasional stirring for about 20 minutes until the rice begins to swell and much of the liquid has been absorbed.
7. Then add the snow peas the water chestnuts and the cut up scallions.
8. Continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.
9. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
10. Finally, add the sesame seed oil, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

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