Lucky Fried Rice

Lately, while I've been making dinner I've been thinking about my blog. I've been keeping in mind how much of what I add and when. If I'm evening thinking about it, I grab my camera and take pictures of the process. But the other night when I made fried rice, I didn't bother. I suck at making fried rice. I'm not just saying, either...through many a trial and error, I KNOW I suck at making fried rice. For whatever reason, it NEVER turns out as well as my mom used to make. Assured of mediocrity, I just kinda threw stuff together, rice, carrots, old broccoli crowns, chicken, 2 tbs of bacon fat. Poof. Amazingly good fried rice. If only I had been paying enough attention to replicate it! Well...here goes my best recollection...

Inspiration: Dumb Luck
Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty: Everyone but me should find this easy
Special equipment: Very large skillet (Preferably cast iron)
Servings: 4

2 cups dried basmati rice, and left out to dry for 1-4 hours
2 Tbs. bacon fat (or 1 lb of bacon, cut into bits and fried crispy, drained with 2 tbs of fat reserved)
3 medium to small carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 large head of broccoli, cut into crowns
3-5 green onions, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 tbs. garlic chili paste
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shelled peanuts
1-2 cups cooked meat diced into bite sized pieces (a great use for leftovers)

1. Over medium heat, fry rice and veggies in bacon fat until they start to brown. Stir with a flat metal spatula every minute or so so rice and veggies brown evenly.
2. Add spices and continue to fry and mix until rice is very fragrant. Spices will begin to stick to pan (and that's okay).
3. Add chili paste and soy sauce and mix well as the pan sizzles (the liquid at this point will mix with the spices stuck to the bottom of the pan and thicken into a little bit of a sauce)
4. Drizzle the beaten egg over the rice so that it fries in little dropped bits.
5. Add meat and continue to stir until meat is warm
6. Remove from heat and toss in peanuts (you can do this over heat too if you want to soften your peanuts)

Note: I usually eat mine drizzled in a spicy soy sauce, or with more chili paste to give it an extra kick. Cayenne works too.