basic dinner idea! bacon, cabbage, and onion rice bowls!

i'm trying out customizing the layout of blogs. this is my first blog with a proper layout =3c

anyway, i thought i'd share my love of cooking with the internet for the very first time.

i love cooking for the people in my life. i hope you guys do too-- and if you don't, hopefully you at least love the moment when you all get those first few bites of your culinary masterpiece. that's my favorite part: seeing my girlfriend's face light up when i make something she loves. anyway, i'm gonna stop being sappy. here's the first weekly meal!

this is super simple and very satisfying. health benefits are questionable, but we're here for comfort, flavor, and fun-- not necessarily slimming down. alright. here's what you'll need. makes.. probably about 4 portions:

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one whole package of bacon (12-16 oz or somewhere between 350 and 500 grams, customizable) -- cut into roughly 1 x 2-inch slices. use kitchen scissors to make this easier

about 1 and a half medium onions-- my favorite setup is half a red onion and a whole yellow (or "sweet") onion -- sliced thinly, as if to make japanese curry (definitely not foreshadowing here)

3/4 of a medium head of cabbage (also customizable. sometimes i use the entire head, if it's a little smaller) -- finely shredded*

and cooked rice, my favorites are white jasmine or basmati. you can choose another rice if you want, including brown or wild rices. whatever works for you! -- i usually make about a cup and a half of rice, but this isn't precise.

finally, for garnish, chopped scallion and freshly-ground black pepper are favorites in my household. 

recommended condiments for serving: unagi (eel) sushi sauce, sriracha sauce, soy sauce. 

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my girlfriend drowns the bowl in all three, but i just reach for the unagi. the sweet-salty and umami flavors pair really well with it. sriracha is good for a touch of spice and some garlic notes.

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okay, now onto the actual cooking!

make sure to cut your ingredients before cooking... unless you're me and like to suffer. it makes it a lot easier for it to come together, because the stir-frying portions move by fast. 

prep work: 

start cooking your rice. hopefully you have a rice cooker, but if not, cook it however you can. you can also use "minute rice" precooked/microwaveable rice cups, if you want. those are really convenient for things like this. use one cup for each portion if you're doing that, and hold off on warming them up until the end.

then, cut the vegetables. some shortcuts for this include: buying bags of pre-shredded cabbage and pre-cut onions if you can find them. this will cut down the cooking time by a lot. also probably helpful if you suffer from chronic pain or disability!

with the bacon, though, the easiest way is to just cut it with kitchen scissors. same goes for the scallion.

prepare a large skillet. doesn't matter what kind, just use your favorite. if you don't have a huge one, it's okay-- you'll just have to cook things in smaller groups.

also, grab a large bowl, like a mixing bowl. you'll need it to hold the cooked ingredients while working on the next batches.

step 1: first round of pan-fry

fry about a third of the package of bacon, getting it crisped to your liking. leave the rendered fat in the pan after removing the meat. place the bacon in your mixing bowl.

with the pan still hot, throw in a third of the cut cabbage. (this will equal about 1/4 of a head of cabbage, by the way.) let the oil soak into the leaves for a bit, and then stir it around occasionally. it'll shrink quite a bit. take about a third of your onion slices and throw those in after the cabbage. do this earlier for more caramelized onions, and later for a more pungent flavor. when cooked to preferred doneness (you can taste the cabbage for softness and the onion for caramelization), put the vegetables in your mixing bowl. you can toss the contents to mix them, if you'd like.

step 2: next round of frying

after the first fry, a lot of the bacon fat will be soaked up by the vegetables. because of this, add another third of the bacon to the pan and cook to desired crispness.

after the bacon is cooked for this round, you'll want to put a few tablespoons of water in your pan. keep it under 1/4 cup (60 mL). then, put the remaining cabbage in this water-fat mixture. your temperature should be fairly high for this, so the cabbage will be lightly steamed. once all the water is evaporated, let the cabbage sit to "burn" just a little. this will pick up a lot of flavor. add salt and pepper if you want it. this step isn't very precise, sorry.

after the cabbage is cooked to your liking, remove it from the pan. all of your cabbage should be gone by this point, and you should have 2/3 of your sliced onions and 1/3 of your bacon remaining.

step 3: finishing off the bacon and frying your onions

this is the most magical part of cooking this meal. a lot of the flavor comes through on this step. your house will smell amazing.

basically, get your pan on a medium heat. place your bacon flat in the skillet, fitting it together somewhat tightly. cook for about a minute to get it started. now put as much onion as you can without it crowding, and continue frying the bacon and onions together. once the bacon cooks to your desired crunch, remove it and put any remaining sliced onion in the pan. basically, fry up the onions in the bacon fat until they're nice and lightly caramelized! 

final step: plating and serving!

okay, sorry that was a whole spiel on my part. i wanted to be clear about the process of this dish. was it easy? or am i just delusional because i cook it so often? let me know. =3

now, grab your bowls and place your cooked rice in them. idk how much rice to put in there tbh. just eyeball it. make sure there's space for the veggie-bacon topping though!

by this point, your topping is probably all in a mixing bowl. give it one last good stir/toss, and use tongs to grab it and place on top of your piles of rice. ough.. i'm drooling just thinking about it....

and finally, drizzle with sriracha, unagi, or soy sauce-- or all 3! top with scallions and black pepper at the very end if you desire.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!

(also, i may update this post at some point to include process pictures. if i don't forget. um. let's hope i dont. lol)

here's my rice bowl from last time we ate them, topped with unagi and sriracha.

and this one is my gf's, just plain. looks nicer, lol.