Recipes Sites Ingredients

Crispy Rice Salad

  • Alternate name: Nam Khao
  • Servings: 4

Salad Dressing Ingredients

  • 2 T lime juice
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 2 T fish sauce
  • 2 T chili garlic sauce
  • 2 T sesame oil

Ingredients

  • 1.5 c oil, for frying
  • 1/2 c plus 2 T rice flour
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 t curry powder
  • 1 t chili garlic sauce
  • 1/2 t fennel pollen
  • 4.5 c cooked jasmine rice, cooled & dried
  • 1/2 lb ground pork or pork sausage
  • 4 dried kashmiri chiles
  • 1/2 c peanuts
  • the Salad Dressing
  • 1/3 c loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/3 c loosely packed mint leaves
  • 1/3 c sliced scallions
  • 1 shallot, sliced into very thin wedges
  • 1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks (julienne)
  • 1 head butter lettuce
  • 2/3 c Carrot Daikon Slaw

Method

  • Put 1/2 c rice flour in a shallow dish.

  • In a large bowl, whisk together 1 egg, the garlic chili paste, the curry powder, the fennel pollen, and 1 T rice flour. Add the rice and sausage and mix with your hands. Form the mixture into 7-8 hamburger-sized patties. Dredge the patties in the flour and set on a plate.

  • In a cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350°F.

  • Fry the dried chiles and peanuts in the oil just enough to darken them slightly, being careful not to burn them, 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside for garnish.

  • Working in two batches, use a slotted spoon to gently lower the rice cakes into the oil and fry them until crispy and golden brown, flipping halfway, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the cakes from the oil and allow them to cool on paper towels.

  • Using your hands, crumble up the crispy rice cakes into different sizes into a bowl. Add the cilantro, mint, scallions, shallots, and ginger.

  • Take a bit of the frying oil and heat it up in a separate skillet, then fry 4 eggs sunny-side-up style.

  • For each salad bowl, arrange 5-6 lettuce leaves around the outside of the bowl. Add the rice mixture to the center, dress with 3-4 t of the Salad Dressing, top with an egg and garnish with the fried peanuts and chiles.

Notes

If you’re making fresh rice for this recipe, don’t rinse the rice before cooking; the starch is your friend and will help the rice cakes stick together.

Notes 2023-04-01

Made the crispy rice (using leftover brown basmati rice) “Mexican style”, using cumin and chipotle, garlic, oregano, kashmiri chili powder, one egg, and rice flour as the binder. Very good!