'Pork' fried rice

A rice cooker is one of those appliances that I'd considered getting, but didn't think I'd use all that much. My sister gave me one as an anniversary present back in June, and I pretty much never looked back. I can't actually remember the last time I cooked rice - or any grain for that matter - on the stove.

And the beauty is, once you put the rice on, you can then go off and do other things, and you don't have to think about it again until you're ready to use it, because the cooker knows when the rice is done, and will automatically switcher over to a warming function. Last night I put rice on, added some garlic, dried coriander leaf, chile and a bit of tomato paste straight into the rice cooker and the result was lovely, moist, spicy, aromatic brown rice. By the time it was ready, I had decided to make fried rice, and my vegetables were all chopped and my eggs were beaten and ready to scramble.

Sainsbury's had delivered Quorn bacon style chunks instead of bacon style rashers at the weekend, and I had no idea what I was going to use it for, but a last minute I realised it would make a suitable substitute for the meat you find in pork fried rice. As the rice was so flavourful, all I had to do was throw in the veg and add soy sauce, sesame oil, and a dash of rice vinegar. It was one of those lovely, improvised meals that often end up better than the ones I meticulously plan.