Key Highlights
- Mary Berry shares a simple trick to make bacon extra crispy every time.
- The secret is using sunflower oil for frying.
- Bacon can be enjoyed as part of breakfast or midday snack, being fast and easy to cook.
- Perfectly fried bacon complements dishes like rosti with eggs.
Mary Berry’s Secret to Crispy Bacon
Cooking expert Mary Berry has shared her top tips for achieving perfectly crispy bacon, providing a simple trick that can make any breakfast or midday snack more enjoyable. This culinary master, known for her cookbook “Mary Berry Everyday,” offers guidance on how to pair the dish with other ingredients like rosti and eggs.
The Importance of Pan-Frying
According to Berry, bacon can be cooked using a classic pan-frying method that ensures tender strips sizzling to perfection. This traditional cooking technique is favored by many due to its simplicity and effectiveness in producing the desired texture.
Sunflower Oil: The Key Ingredient for Crispiness
Berry emphasizes the importance of using sunflower oil when frying bacon. She explains that this particular type of oil, when heated properly, helps achieve an extra crunchy exterior while maintaining a tender interior. For those who want to pair their bacon with rosti and eggs, preparing the ingredients involves grating peeled potatoes and chopping onions before combining them with cooked bacon.
Steps for Perfectly Crispy Bacon
To start with the bacon, it should be chopped into small pieces if being used in a potato rosti or left whole for other dishes. A large eight-inch frying pan is required, and once warm, a tablespoon of sunflower oil is added to ensure that the bacon cooks evenly. The bacon should be cooked on high heat until crispy, which typically takes just minutes for chopped rashers but may take around 10 minutes for whole strips.
After cooking, placing a lid on the pan can help maintain the crispiness and speed up the process.
If making rosti, the next step involves grating peeled potatoes and chopping an onion before frying briefly in the same pan with the bacon. The excess moisture from the grated potatoes should be squeezed out using a clean tea towel to prevent a soggy rosti.
Combining the drained potatoes with the cooked bacon and onions, seasoning well, creates a hearty mixture that can then be shaped into an even layer on the hot pan and cooked for 5 to 10 minutes before flipping. The other side should also cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until golden and crisp.
Perfecting the Bacon-Rosti Combination
Fried eggs can then be prepared separately, depending on personal preference, while the rosti is sliced into portions. Each piece can then be topped with a fried egg to create a satisfying breakfast or midday meal that combines all these elements.
Mary Berry’s tips offer valuable insights for anyone looking to enhance their culinary skills and ensure that every bite of bacon is extra crispy, making it an even more delightful addition to any meal. Whether enjoyed as part of a hearty breakfast or paired with other dishes like rosti and eggs, perfectly fried bacon can elevate any dish.
