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Sweet Potato & Bacon Steamed Rice. My mother has been visiting Korea for a month and is currently staying with me. One thing she can not stand is dirty things! My, oh my - she looked at our kitchen and immediately started cleaning. Our precious Cuckoo Rice Cooker caught her eye. It had grease spots all over it and she immediately took it to the sink to scrub it down. But the Cuckoo resisted! So she went the "nuclear" option and took it to the bathroom! There, with an old tooth brush and shower facuet in hand, she closed the door! 10 minutes later, she claimed victory! With achievement in her voice, she said "Now, this is how a rice cooker should look like - you need to be clean and organized to do big things in life [...]" Slightly annoyed and thankful at the same time, I plugged the pristine rice cooker back in. Immediately, the rice cooker display showed an error sign, followed by a faint smell of burnt electronics... 🤯(My, oh my ... haha!)

Without a rice cooker, we resorted to using a Ttukbaegi pot for morning rice! I was surprised by how fast it cooked rice - it only took 15 minutes and the rice tasted perfect! One morning, I decided to throw in some frozen peas. It tasted great. So the following day, I threw-in sweet-potatoes. Soon enough, I was adding-in bacon and Shiitake mushrooms. And this is how this recipe came about! Funny how things turn out sometimes...

I'll leave with a few cooking notes:

For this recipe, make sure to use short-grain rice (aka sushi rice). You want that stickiness of short-grain rice so that all of the ingredients clump together.
You can cook this rice without a Ttukbaegi Pot. Simply use a small thick-bottomed pot with a proper-fitting lid.
I purposely didn't season the rice - but if you want a richer flavor, drop-in a small dab of butter and a drizzle of soy sauce before you eat.
It's important to let the rice steam at the end. After you take it off the heat, don't open the lid - all of the heat will escape.
Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients with your veggie(s) of choice.

Alright, I hope you give this simple breakfast idea a try. It's versatile and works well as a nutritious breakfast!

If you don't have a Ttukbaegi pot, consider getting one! Must-have cooking ware if you're a busy-bee 🐝

-Daniel out! 🕺

Sweet Potato & Bacon Steamed Rice

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

1 cup Korean Rice (Short-grain rice)
1 cup Water
1-2 slices Bacon
Few slices Sweet Potato
1 Shiitake Mushroom
Handful of Frozen Peas
Handful of Frozen Green Beans

Instructions

Prep Ingredients

Measure 1 cup of rice. Wash and rinse the rice a few times. Drain it through a strainer and place it aside.
Cut the bacon, shiitake mushroom and sweet-potato into thin slices. Then scoop out a small handful of frozen peas and green beans. Set them aside.

Cook Rice

Place Ttukbaegi Pot (or a thick-bottomed pot) on medium-high heat. Add-in the bacon. Stir it around until the bacon gets a slight browning on the edges. Then add-in the frozen green beans. Stir-fry everything around for 1 minute. Then important - TURN OFF THE HEAT! (We don't want the Ttukbaegi pot to get too hot - or else it could crack when adding in cold water). Afterwards, add-in the washed rice (1 cup). Then add in warm water (1 cup).
Next, add your toppings to the rice: place the thinly sliced sweet potatoes, shiitake mushroom and bacon on top of the rice. Turn the heat back onto a HIGH heat. Put the lid on and wait until it comes up to boil. Once it's boiling, set a timer for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, reduce the heat to a LOW. Then set a timer for 10 minutes and let it cook.
After 10 minutes, take the pot off the heat and place it on a coaster. Give it 2-3 minutes to steam by itself in its residual heat.
It's ready to eat. Serve into individual bowls and enjoy! (Optional: You can add a dab of butter and a drizzle of soy sauce if you want to season the rice)