Photos: Passport & Plate - Crispy Cape Seaweed Rice Cakes

sensorytravels — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 10:18:00 GMT

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.

Understanding a Culture through Food - Culinary Curiosities: Dim Sum in NYC China Town

sensorytravels — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:27:35 GMT

We ventured into the banquet hall of East Market Restaurant on East Broadway, a grand venue for a delectable Sunday dim sum brunch. It was my first time eating in New York City’s China Town and I was intrigued by the city’s culinary streets that never sleep and never stops serving food.
Before we began our bite-size meal, I didn’t know what dim sum was, looked like or even how it tasted. I saw steaming silver carts weaving through the maze of round family tables with culinary curiosities. Small portions of steamed buns, fried dumplings, rolls and vegetables were crammed on tiny plates or served in tiny bamboo baskets. My sister whispered in my ear “Dim sum is meant to touch the heart.” We sat down to a pot of jasmine tea, and I looked around me. The restaurant was filled with generations of large families, sharing bottomless portions and sensational chatter.

At our family table, we nodded our heads to the chewy delights and had plates sprinkled over our pink table linen. The lazy susan spun a variety of shared flavors and communal bites. We enjoyed double portions of Cheong fan (rolled rice noodles) and Wu gok (taro dumplings) and I shared a smile across the room with a grandmother feeding sponge cake to her grandchild.

After all the lotus leaves were unwrapped and all the steamed bao’s began to expand in our stomaches, we agreed our dim sum brunch was a culinary success. All of our senses were feasted and I exhaled a happy sigh of satisfied balance and digestive harmony. As we stood at the cashier to pay for our meal, the room was full of more sharing tables with boisterous families. The grandmother was giggling while she enjoyed her soft marshy bun, and a mother and son were dipping their dumplings in a shared bowl of tangy happiness. I saw friends eating together and sharing flavors and conversations. I began to understand the importance of shared food as a nourishing celebration, a culturally celebrated experience. Sharing food together, whether it's taro dumplings or tofu skin rolls, invited a harmonious exchange that communicated and satisfied our physical and emotive senses. For me, dim sum became a symbol of the way we share a piece of our heart, when we share our food in the company we love. That Sunday made me understand what my sister whispered into my ear. If dim sum is meant to touch the heart to those who share it, it certainly captured mine.

Then some and Dim Sum

Photos: Passport & Plate - Crispy Cape Seaweed Rice Cakes

Understanding a Culture through Food - Culinary Curiosities: Dim Sum in NYC China Town