Six degrees of bacon
Vanessa Frida | The New Paper | Mon May 28 2012
Singapore, May 28, 2012
Those gorgeous brined, smoked, strips of pork belly sizzling away in the kitchen – it’s a wonderful comfort breakfast when paired with scrambled eggs and toast.
There are two varieties of bacon in supermarkets.
The leaner, more chewy back bacon and the fatty, streaky bacon which gives you a crisp texture.
Personally, I prefer streaky bacon, but let’s face it, anything with bacon just tastes better.
After a recent craving for bacon led me to the supermarket, I was left with a little too much streaky bacon.
Okay, that’s an understatement.
To help myself feel better, I set myself a challenge.
How many ways can I glorify bacon and make it the champion ingredient? I had a lot of fun trying.
So, if you are a fan of bacon, why not try some of these sizzling ideas?
Jazzed up soft-boiled egg
Like many Singaporeans, I like my soft-boiled eggs in the morning with some toast.
I substituted the soya sauce with some fried bacon bits.
It brought my love for soft-boiled eggs to a whole new level by adding new flavour and texture.
Maple-glazed bacon
To revamp the old classic of bacon and eggs, I brushed some sweet maple syrup on the strips before putting them in the frying pan.
It was delicious. My tastebuds were treated to a short burst of sweetness followed by savouriness.
Be careful when frying the maple-coated bacon slices – they brown quickly due to the caramelisation of the sugar in the syrup.
To give the eggs a special touch, I like adding some chopped chives and topping it off with freshly cracked pepper and finishing salt.
Bacon-wrapped tuna
I bought a lovely piece of sashimi-grade tuna belly.
I wrapped the tuna – about 15-cm long and 2.5-cm thick – evenly with strips of streaky bacon, then seared it on all sides till the bacon was golden brown.
After allowing it to cool for 10 minutes, I sliced it into 1-cm thick slices.
The saltiness and texture of the crisp bacon complemented the mild flavour of the tuna.
This goes well on a bed of garden greens lightly tossed in Italian dressing.
Bacon-wrapped hotdog
A couple of friends wanted something really unhealthy and sinful when they dropped in recently.
All I had were some bacon, sausages, cheese and hotdog buns at home.
I decided to wrap the sausages in bacon, and I deep fried them till crispy.
Then I popped them into the hotdog buns, added cheese and grilled them till the cheese was golden brown.
Sinfully good.
Deep-fried bacon dates
After tasting the sweet and savoury maple-glazed bacon strips, a light bulb went off in my head – why not wrap dates in bacon?
You will need fresh pitted dates, which can be found at some supermarkets, as dried dates won’t give you the desired effect.
Wrap each date with a strip of streaky bacon, then shallow-fry it in a wok with vegetable oil.
If the oil is hot enough, the bacon and the date will hold together.
After draining the dates off on a kitchen towel, pierce each with a toothpick and they are ready to be served. They’re best eaten warm.
Bacon stock
If you are looking for an alternative stock, cubed bacon (streaky or lean) browned and added as a base with onions, fresh sage, one diced apple and garlic, will give you a smoky and delicious version.