I learned cooking from my mother who was a great and very intuitive Nyonya cook. I have fond memories of her steaming rice cakes on top of a wood fire stove, and the aroma of steamed rice cake with taro yam would permeate the air. Here is an old-fashioned steamed rice cake to share with you. Hope you enjoy with a happy and grounded mood.
Steamed brown rice cake with taro yam (gluten-free)
The following recipe make 2 kg of rice cakes.
Organic ingredients:
- Taro Yam 700g
- Brown rice cooking oil 2 tablespoons
- Cambodian long grain brown rice, cooked 450g
- Radiant activated garbanzo beans, cooked 45g
- Filtered water 1 litre
- Unsui corn starch 65g
- Unsui Jyoshinko rice flour 100g
- Radiant brown rice flour 200g
Seasoning:
- Unsui pure Kombu shiitake dashi powder 10g
- Unsui Macrobiotic Sea Salt 8g
- Unsui freshly crushed pepper powder ¼ teaspoon
Dip:
- Unsui vegan sambal chili paste
- Unsui pure sesame oil, toasted
- Radiant peanuts with skin, toasted and chopped
- Unsui nori strips
- Optional: Chopped and toasted garlic or shallots
Garnish:
Method:
- Peel taro and cut into 1cm cubes. Cook the cubes in warm brown rice oil for 5-8 minutes until slightly translucent. Add a pinch of sea salt. Mix well. Remove from fire, let cool.
- Add water to the cooked brown rice and garbanzo and puree in a blender until smooth. Add brown rice flour, corn starch, Jyoshinko rice flour, and the seasoning. Mix well. Transfer to a ceramic earthen pot. Cook until puree appears thick and heavy, about 70% cooked. Stir while cooking.
- Transfer to a glass container, level the surface with a spatula moistened with water. Steam over rapid boiling water for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool before cutting.
- Serve with toasted chopped peanut, sambal chili and drizzle with toasted sesame oil, nori strips and garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy!
Note:
- Taro yam grows at higher altitudes. It is drier and contains less carbohydrates and is thus more Yang in energy. It helps heal the inflammation of internal organs.
- Macrobiotic sea salt is dried under the sun and washed, hence contains less minerals than grey sea salt. As such macrobiotic sea salt is less burdening on the kidneys.
- Adding garbanzo beans to the cooked brown rice creates a complete protein combination.
- Unsui sambal is prepared with okara (organic soybean puree), shiro miso, shoyu, macrobiotic sea salt, herbs and spices. This combination creates a neutral and slightly Yin characteristics.
- Instead of taro, daikon radish or even carrot could be added for different energy and tastes.
By June Ka Lim, macrobiotic vegan chef
Copyrights reserved 2015
