Crispy Rice Salad (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) Tropical Sun USA easy cook rice
- Tropical sun vegetable oil , for frying
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger , finely grated
- 1/2 head cabbage (sweetheart, white or red)
- 2 spring onions , roughly chopped
- 1 large carrot , grated
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegan 'fish' sauce (or light sauce)(Can also use standard fish sauce, if not vegan/veggie)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Tropical Sun agave syrup
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
Garnish:
- Large handful fresh coriander , roughly chopped
- Handful fresh mint leaves , roughly chopped
- 1/2 red onion , thinly sliced
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Once cooked, drain to make sure there’s no water left. Spread the rice out on a baking tray and allow to cool completely at room temperature. Leave overnight (or for at least 1 hour) in the fridge to dry out.
- The next day, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to cover the base of it generously. Heat over a medium-high heat. Test the temperature by dropping a grain of rice into the oil, if it starts to bubble it is ready.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low then take a handful of rice and add it to the oil. Stand back as the oil will bubble up and may spit. Once the rice has reached a golden colour, remove from the oil with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with some paper kitchen towel. Repeat this two more times so you have about 3 handfuls of crispy rice.
- Remove the pan from the heat and decant most of the oil into a heatproof container, leaving some oil in the pan.
- Return the pan to the heat. Add the ginger and cook over a medium-low heat for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until softened slightly. Add the remaining cooled rice, the spring onions and grated carrot and stir together in the pan on the heat.
- In a jug, mix all of the dressing ingredients together. Pour over the rice and vegetables in the pan and stir to coat.
- Tip the contents of the pan out onto a serving dish. Top with the crispy rice, coriander, mint and red onion. Eat warm .
Notes
This recipe requires cooked and cooled rice. It's important that the rice is cooled as quickly as possible once cooked to reduce the possibility of getting food poisoning. This is why I recommend spread it out on a tray to increase the surface area so the rice can cool quickly.
If you’re finding that the oil is spitting excessively when frying, the rice is still too moist. You need to dry it out a bit more before frying. To do this, transfer the tray of rice to an oven heated to 100 C and let it toast for 10-15 minutes in there, stirring occasionally, until it feels dry.