Brazilian Arroz Pilaf ~ Biro Biro with Bacon

Step 1

Dice the bacon and cook in a medium pot (with a fitting lid) over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Stir every couple minutes ensuring that the fat is rendering and the bacon is crisping up.

Step 2

While the bacon cooks, dice the onion, mince the garlic, dice the carrot, and chop the cilantro.

Step 3

When the bacon is crisp, transfer it to a plate using a slotted spoon so the fat stays in the pot.

Step 4

To the bacon fat, add the rice, the diced onion and the garlic, then stir to coat in the fat and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the broth and the salt. Stir, turn the heat back up to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir again, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and let cook for 20 minutes.

Step 5

While the rice is cooking, preheat a medium non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a teaspoon or two of olive oil and the diced carrots. Cook the carrots in the pan for 5-8 minutes until fork tender. If needed you can add a splash of water and cover the pan to steam them and help them cook faster. Once cooked, transfer to the plate with the bacon.

Step 6

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Then to the same pan used for the carrots, add another teaspoon of olive oil and the beaten eggs. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often so that the eggs cook scrambled. Once no longer runny, turn off the heat and set aside to add to the rice later.

Step 7

After 20 minutes, turn off the heat for the rice, but let the rice sit COVERED for another 5-10 minutes.

Step 8

Fluff up the rice with a fork and either in the pot, a separate bowl, or the frying pan, mix together the rice, crisp bacon pieces, carrots, cilantro, and scrambled egg. Serve and enjoy!