Guest Recipe Contributor
By Mithi Shukla
Servings: About six patties
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
I know we’ve all been there, staring down at a day-old pot of rice desperately trying to find a creative way to use it up. Well luckily this recipe will solve all your rice worries! This colorful and easy dish is the perfect way to spice up your rice. This recipe is inspired by spicy tuna crispy rice, but instead of tuna I opted to use tomato and cucumbers to give it a veggie zing. This delicious snack is made with crispy jasmine rice, fresh cucumber, fresh tomato, spicy, sweet, and savory sauces, and a slice of serrano pepper for that extra kick. It’s the perfect spring and summer appetizer for your next gathering to wow your guests.
Ingredients:
Measure with your heart! But if you must know the details…
2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
Peanut oil (for frying)
¼ Cucumber
¼ Tomato
½ Serrano or jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
½ tbsp. Honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp. Lime juice
1 tbsp. Mayonnaise
½ – 1 tbsp. Sriracha (depending on how spicy you want it)
Method
- Prepare the rice. I used leftover rice for this recipe, but if you don’t have any, slightly overcook jasmine rice. This will allow the rice to become stickier and mold into a patty much easier. After it is done cooking, let it cool and transfer rice to shallow container. Press the rice down so that it becomes compact and place in the fridge for at least an hour. You want to chill the rice so that is it easy to mold into a circular shape. Once the rice is chilled, mold the rice into bite sized circular patties.
- In a heated pan add in peanut oil and wait for the oil to heat. Hint: Add in a small piece of rice to the oil – once it starts to sizzle, it’s hot enough. Add in the rice patties to the pan and fry on each side for 2-3 mins or until it has a golden brown crust. You may need to fry in multiple batches depending on your pan size. Note: Be careful when frying, the oil may splatter.
- When the rice patties develop a golden crust, remove them from the pan and place them on a wire rack or paper towel-lined tray to drain any excess oil.
- While the rice patties cool, prep the veggies. Dice up the cucumber and tomatoes into small pieces. Once diced, put them in two separate bowls. In the bowl with the cucumbers, add in the sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup or honey, and lime juice. Mix thoroughly and there should be extra juice at the bottom – save this! In the bowl with the tomatoes, add in the mayo and sriracha and mix thoroughly.
- Once the tomatoes and cucumbers have been mixed with their sauces, it’s time to assemble the crispy rice! Take a patty, add some of the cucumber sauce juice from earlier and sprinkle some over the rice. This will add more flavors to the rice itself. Then add a spoonful of cucumber, and a spoonful of tomato. If you don’t want it too spicy you can stop here, but if you want a little extra kick, add a drizzle of sriracha on top and garnish with a serrano or jalapeno pepper slice.
