Fried rice cakes? Kinda like Quaker rice cakes, but, like, a bajillion times better.
So when my father saw the package of cakes, he first got very excited about this little visit of not-oft-seen product from the other side of this planet. And then, he explained their use (as I was expecting them to have a taste more akin to styrofoam):
"You know what you do? You make chicken soup. And you have to serve it when it's still really, really hot, and you put the rice cake on top."
This advice came from the same father who I remembered, from my youngest years, making me ramen with a scrambled egg and fresh scallions, a late-night snack that I still seek out with the right Taiwanese Tung-I ramen wherever I can find it. The same father who explained to me when I asked him for the recipe for the Chinese chicken and dumpling soup I loved so much growing up that it wasn't a recipe that was worth sharing, as it really was the food that his family ate because they were poor (the poor's food or not, it is damn good, and I still can't get my dumpling mix just right). The same father whose oily rice and eight-treasure porridge are revered by all his family friends, including those who own restaurants, and by me as well as my miniaturized clones.
So I looked at those rice cakes with more optimism, took his loose instructions, and tried it tonight. Soup. Hot. Rice cake on top. Right.
The recipe came out well. And the rice cakes were way tastier than I expected. You find the rice cakes I'm talking about some time you're in an Asian grocery store, you gotta pick them up and try them out. It's a cool and new experience, and a delicious one at that all the same. And don't get discouraged by the long list of ingredients - it's really not too difficult, since some ingredients are (OH HORROR of HORRORS!) canned ingredients.
Soup with fried rice cakes1 chicken breast sliced
1.5t corn starch
1/4c water
1t salt
1t white pepper pepper
1T sesame oil
Assortment of veggies - I used the following this evening:
2 carrots, sliced on diagonal
4 small radishes, sliced
1 Chinese mushroom
1c dried lily flowers
1 can sliced bamboo, drained and rinsed
1 can straw mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 can baby corn, drained and rinsed
1 can water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
1c fresh snow peas
1c fresh bean sprouts
1/2 baby bok choy per serving
2 cherry tomatoes per serving, cut in half
Jalapeno, sliced (optional)
1-2 fried rice cakes per serving
Sesame oil
SaltWhite pepper
1. Dissolve corn starch in the water.2. Mix the corn starch mixture with the chicken, as well as a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Set aside for minimum 10 minutes.
3. Heat sesame oil in pan. Add chicken and saute until opaque.
4. Add enough water to cover chicken.
5. Add carrots, and bring to boil.
6. Add remaining vegetables through water chestnuts in sections (arrange in stockpot as separate sections of vegetables, as opposed to mixing all vegetables and throwing it all into the pot together). Add enough water to cover. Bring to boil.
7. Taste soup, and add sesame oil/salt/pepper to taste. Once flavor suits your taste, add the bok choi, bean sprouts, and snow peas on top, arranging in groups in the same way as the previous veggies.
8. Serve by arranging the bowl in the same manner - grouping servings of the veggies and chicken separately from each other, and laying the bok choi on top. If you'd like to have the spicy heat in the soup, add your jalepeno slices at the bottom of the bowls.
9. Pour on enough soup to cover all your ingredients (and release the oils from the jalapenos), add the sliced cherry tomatoes (adds a little fresh tang against the smoky weight of sesame oil), and throw on a fried rice cake. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Baby2 initially had his doubts - but then upon my insistence he tried a bite, and never looked back.
No comments:
Post a Comment