Then some and Dim Sum Dispatch from a Gastronomy Nomad.

Passport & Plate - Crispy Cape Seaweed Rice Cakes

South Africa | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos

Ingredients
For Rice Cakes:

1/2 c. chopped seaweed (fresh or dried combination of nori, wrack and ulva bite-size)
1 c. short grain rice
1 T fresh grated ginger
dash of salt
dash of rice vinegar
Coconut/Sesame oil for pan-frying

For Dipping Sauce:

1 T fresh grated ginger
1 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
pinch of sugar
3 T tahini

Garnish:
sesame seeds
chives

What you need in your kitchen:
saucepan
frying pan
whisk
stirring bowl
colander
stirring spoon
soup spoon
measuring cups/spoons
stove

 

How to prepare this recipe
COOK THE RICE:

Wash and rinse the rice in a colander, until the water is clear. Place in a saucepan with double the amount of water and a little salt and stir once. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat all the way down and cover the pan tightly with a lid. Cook on the lowest heat possible for 10-15 mins without uncovering the pan.

PREPARE THE DIPPING SAUCE:

Add the ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar together in small bowl. Whisk in the tahini until it's a smooth caramel consistency.

PREPARE THE RICE CAKES:

Let the cooked rice cool for about 20 minutes. Stir in the seaweed, salt, ginger, & rice vinegar well so the flavours and ingredients are well distributed. Using a soup spoon, scoop a small ball of the rice mixture to place in your clean hand to form into a small ball. Repeat until you have enough to fill the frying pan. Slightly coat the frying pan with coconut or sesame oil and turn the heat on medium. Place the rice cakes in the pan and fry on both sides until crispy, golden brown. Recoat the frying pan with oil each time you fry a new set of rice cakes. Remove the rice cakes from the pan with a spatula and let them cool for 5-7 minutes.


TO SERVE:

Place the rice cakes on a colourful dish. Place the dipping sauce in a dipping bowl garnished with sesame seeds and chives. The rice cakes can be enjoyed with chopsticks or simply by using your hands :)

Enjoy!

 

The story behind this recipe
I confess, my kitchen turns into edible science experiments almost every day. Seaweed is my new ingredient under my culinary microscope. Once I got to know the nutritional facts and the familiar taste of popcorn that nori has when roasted on the fire, I realised there was no limits to developing recipes with this superfood. 
When I first moved to Cape Town, I was mesmerised by the huge kelp forests that were washed onto the shorelines.  On low tides, I observed the variety of seaweeds that clung to the rocks and naturally wondered, “Can we eat that?”  You’ve probably already have if you’ve gone to a sushi joint or visit the snack aisle at an Pan-Asian supermarket.  When we see an ingredient in it’s natural state, we’re often surprised by how it grows, what it looks like, where it comes from and what it may actually taste like?  This is what I call the spark of our own whole food education. I was hesitant to harvest seaweed in South Africa before doing a bit of research. I needed a bit of local knowledge to boost my confidence and to verify that I wasn’t the only crazy food explorer who wondered about eating ocean algae.  If people in other parts of the world have seaweed-based cuisine, why aren’t we eating it on South Africa’s coast? I went on a foraging day with a local expert on the Cape Point to learn about the beautiful seaweed varieties available for us to harvest responsibly. Picking and chewing on the varieties of red, green and brown seaweeds gave me endless ideas for recipes, inspired by the textures, shapes and flavours of them all. Chop it, fry it, roast it, mold it, mix it. It was the beginning of a wild food love affair.