Successfully, I’ve created tasty, individual rice cakes, inspired by a recipe in Shelf Love, the latest cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi.
After having cooked a few recipes from this cookbook already, I see how they serve to inspire my own versions. I need not follow these recipes exactly as they are written, in order to make my delicious meal. The inspirations are most helpful. The adaptations are mine.
Here, for instance, I’ve studied the recipe for a “Very Giant Giant Rice Cake,” and have turned it into “Individual Rice Cakes with a Side of Tomato Sauce.”
I opted for a reliable and easy tomato sauce, instead of roasting peppers and tomato and garlic to make a smooth pepper sauce. I admit I wimped out here, but I was afraid my dining audience would not appreciate the efforts of a roasted pepper sauce. Tomato sauce is simple.
Instead of couscous, I used rice. I added some dried oregano, rather than the coriander seeds. Ottolenghi often uses coriander seeds in his recipes, but their flavor is too strong for me here.
Going into this recipe, I knew one thing was sure: I could not, would not, attempt to flip a giant rice cake in a frying pan. I cannot bear to grapple with the calisthenics of big cake flipping. I don’t have the grace or the experience or the luck. Instead, I’m honest with myself and shape six mini cakes, frying three each in two cast-iron pans. Perfect, for me.
The cakes fry and I am relaxed by the sound of the sizzling. They are structurally sound, flipping easily with a spatula. Like fish cakes, they hold together perfectly, not too dry and not too wet.
Here’s what we get: crispy sides, cheesy spinach within, and tomato sauce on the side. Not bad. If you’re brave and skilled enough, go ahead and flip a giant cake. Or, do like me, and take pleasure in smaller, stress-free rice cakes.
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