Crispy Rice Salad
Quite possibly one of the best dishes I've ever eaten at a restaurant. I had this for the first time at Funky Elephant in Berkeley. I was blown away by how vibrant the dish is and the textural contrast. Samin Nosrat would be proud of the way this dish "layers" acidity and salt, with so many components coming together beautifully. This is fireworks in your mouth. It is a flagship Laotian dish and for good reason. It's actually not too difficult to make either -- would recommend giving it a try!
Active Time: 35 min
Total Time: 1 hr 40 min
Ingredients
To make the crispy rice:
> rice (2/3 cup, or about 2 cups cooked)
> egg (1)
> red curry paste (40g)
> sugar (10g)
> fish sauce (1.5 tbsp)
> Kaffir lime leaves (10, finely chopped)
> shredded coconut (40g)
> neutral oil
Putting it all together:
> fermented pork (110g, cut into very small pieces)
> honey roasted peanuts (1/2 cup)
> cilantro (1/3 cup, chopped)
> mint (1/3 cup, chopped)
> lettuce leaves
> lime juice, to taste
Instructions
1. Using a rice cooker, cook jasmine rice with the appropriate amount of water. This takes about 1h for my rice cooker.
2. In a large mixing bowl, make the sauce by beating the egg, then mixing in the red curry paste, sugar, fish sauce, Kaffir lime leaves, and shredded coconut. Mix until completely incorporated. Then add the rice, and mix until well-mixed.
3. Form the rice into large ~3 inch balls, and fry the in 350F oil until dark golden brown. This should take around 4-8 minutes, depending on your pot. Set aside on a paper towel or wire rack to drain.
4. Put the rice balls in a bowl, and crush it into small pieces using a spatula. Then mix in the fermented pork, honey roasted peanuts, cilantro, and mint leaves until well-mixed.
5. Serve with lettuce leaves, more herbs, and a lime wedge on the side. Add more lime juice to taste. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> The Kaffir lime leaves are essential -- do try to find them if you can (most Asian supermarkets like hmart should have them). They give such a lovely flavor, and emits an incredible aroma during the frying process that you simply can't achieve with pure zest or juice.
> Laotian fermented pork, or som moo, is essentially raw pork that's left to ferment over 3 days. It is difficult to find, even at Asian supermarkets (I couldn't find it at Ranch 99 or hmart). Compared to other sausages, it is quite sour. It lends an amazing flavor and textural contrast to the dish. Omit it or optionally substitute some spam, but it won't quite be the same.
> To eat, make lettuce wraps! Spoon some crispy rice salad into a lettuce leaf, top it off with some more herbs if desired, and eat!
> This dish is traditionally made with peanuts, but realistically speaking most similar nuts would work. I had some cashews lying around and used those instead, which worked great.
> Avoid frying the rice balls for too long, which may excessively dry out the exterior and leave it unpleasantly hard instead of crispy.