My own
fusion cuisine version. Very jpanese in style although i use some Chinese ingredients as well. I would have noded these under
Rice Balls but No need to be
redundant, these vary from the
traditional riceballs quite a bit:
Ingredients:
1/2 Cucumber
Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 pound pork tenderloin
Hoisin Sauce
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Rice
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Nori Seaweed (the kind often used in making sushi rolls, I may not have the name right)
Dice de-seed and dice the cucumber, place in a small bown or glass add a solution of equal parts Apple Cider Vinegar and Water combined with about a
teaspoon of suger (just to remove the edge of the vinegar a little) and let soak for 1/2 to 1 hour. Now coarsley
mince the pork (as it needs to cook quickly). In another bowl place the diced pork, stir in about a tablespoon or so of Hoisin, bit of soy sauce, a dash of pepper and a teaspoon or so of
sugar, this should marinate for about 15 minutes to half an hour. I usually do this right before I start the rice, when the rice is done
cooking I know that the marinade is done. Now start your rice. You can cook this rice as normal (although i like to throw in a small splash of apple cider vinegar), or as
sushi rice. Now fry your pork in a VERY hot
pan with a bit of oil, when it's cooked all the way through remove it, drain off any excess fat and set it aside to cool. Also drain your cucumbers and get ready to prepare your dish.
Cool the rice a bit (so that you can handle it without burning your
hand off). Now form your rice balls by placing a flat layer of rice on your
palm, adding either pork or cucumber, and then topping with another layer, carefully form into ball shape and place on a small square of seaweed (it should be a suqare in width equal to the diameter of the rice ball). Arrange on a plate with any left over pork or cucumber being used as a
garnish (I also shred some seaweed to use for this purpose as well). Sprinkle the balls with kosher (or sea) salt.
To eat: scoop off the top of the ball with
chopsticks, as you get near the bottom pick it up by the seaweed and eat it like one would a
taco. Yum!