Chinese Duck and Coconut Rice Cakes

From issue #6.
Photography by Photography by Elizabeth Goodall.
Chinese Duck and Coconut Rice Cakes

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup jasmine rice
½ cup glutinous white rice
200 mls coconut milk
300 mls water
½ Chinese BBQ duck
1 stalk lemongrass
1 long red chilli
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
½ cup packed coriander leaves, finely chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 egg
150 grams raw cashews or peanuts
canola oil for shallow frying
sauces for dipping eg. sweet chilli, hoisin, Chinese yellow plum sauce.

METHOD

Wash the rice well in cold water and drain. Place the rice, coconut milk and water in a saucepan, cover and
bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to very low and cook gently for 25 minutes without removing the lid. Turn off the heat and sit for 10 minutes. Tip into a bowl and cool.

Remove the skin and fat from the duck and finely dice the meat.Finely chop the tender heart of the lemongrass. Seed and finely chop the chilli. Roast and finely grind the nuts. Weigh out 50 grams for rice cakes and reserve the rest for coating. Using your hands, combine the rice and all the remaining
ingredients, except the reserved nuts, in a bowl and mix really well. Roll into 3cm cakes and place on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Coat the cakes in the reserved nuts and if not using immediately, cover and refrigerate.

Heat 1 cm of oil in a large sauté pan and fry the cakes in batches until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a low oven.

To serve: Place the cakes on a platter and accompany with a selection of sauces for dipping. Makes about 50 cakes