Here’s a cool appetizer I found in the April 2019 issue of Food & Wine. It consists of three parts: crispy rice cakes, miso eggplant and avocado. In this case, the appetizers are the eggplant and avocado on the rice cakes—kind of like a bastardized fishless sushi.
First, you need to make the crispy rice cakes, which is pretty easy. I’ll give the recipe that F&W presents, along with what I did, which seemed a lot easier and gave what I presume are the same results.
The other part you need to cook is the eggplant, which is pretty easy.
Avocado and the miso-eggplant are really just the start with these appetizers. Could put all sorts of things on them, like small, cooked shrimp, seared tuna, bacon & egg, mango & hot pepper, you name it.
There’s a lot of text below, but all this stuff is really quick and easy.
What you’ll need for the rice cakes—Food & Wine version:
- 6 cups of cooked rice (2 cups uncooked)
- 3T rice vinegar
- 2T granulated sugar
- 1t salt
- 3T canola, vegetable or corn oil (I can’t help but think sesame or chili oil would work well)
- Cooking spray
What you’ll need for the rice cakes—Feral Cooks version:
- 6 cups of cooked rice (2 cups uncooked)
- Premade sushi seasoning (this seasoning is made from corn syrup, vinegar, rice vinegar, salt, brown sugar and MSG—basically the ingredients in the Food & Wine version)
What you’ll need for the miso-eggplant:
- 1 Japanese eggplant (also called nasu) diced into 0.5-inch cubes
- 3T canola, vegetable or corn oil
- Cooking spray
- 0.25 cups white miso (we had only red on hand, which is much saltier—white is better for this recipe)
- the rice-cakes you just made—18 was the magic number for the amount of eggplant in the recipe
What you’ll need for the avocado:
- *A ripe avocado (who would have guessed?)
- Sea salt, or some cool and crazy-expensive finishing salt
- Cayenne pepper (optional, ‘cuz it looks cooler than boring salt)
*If you’re unsure how to safely pit and peel an avocado, watch this 37-second non-annoying video.
What to do for the rice cakes—Food & Wine version:
You know, there’s a reason I didn’t do it their way. It’s a long, overly-complicated process, so I’m not even going to bother typing it, after all. If you want to waste your time on it, go here.
What to do for the rice cakes—Feral Cook’s version:
While I’m sure the Food & Wine version would turn out perfectly, this version is much faster, and it turned out well.
Make two cups of white rice, however you make rice at home—this would yield about 6 cups of cooked rice.
Heat your oven to 450 degrees.
While the rice is still hot/warm, add 5T of premade sushi seasoning. Mix well.
Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, and dump the rice into the middle. Flatten the rice with your hands, spreading it out across the sheet. For consistent thickness you can gently roll a greased roller of some sort over the rice. Shoot for about 0.25-inches in thickness, or a little thicker. I was making only a few rice cakes with a limited amount of rice, so I didn’t care that the perimeter of the rice sheet was thinner than the middle—this will result in charring of the “outside rice.” See photo.
Once you’re satisfied with the rice-sheet thickness, cut it into small cracker-like pieces with either a knife or pizza cutter. Spraying the cutting utensil with cooking spray will help keep the rice from sticking. You may have to spray it a couple of times.
Now the rice is ready for the oven—convection mode is best if you have it. Roast mode is good, too, if you have it, as heat from the top and bottom will brown the top of the rice, too. Cook until the rice becomes well browned and slightly crunchy.
Let the rice cakes cool before you add any toppings.
What to do for the miso-eggplant:
Heat your oven to 425 degrees, and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil that you spray with cooking spray.
Mix the diced eggplant and oil in a medium-size bowl, then spread it across the foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until tender—begin checking for done-ness at about 15 minutes.
When the eggplant is almost done cooking, make a double-boiler with a small saucepan and a heatproof bowl, with the water at a medium simmer.
Add the miso and sugar and begin heating. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts and the miso gets hot enough to make a smooth mixture.
When the miso mixture is done, add the eggplant and gently stir. After it cools, top the rice-cakes with it.
What to do for the avocado fake-sushi:
Cut up the avocado without making a bloody mess of your hand while removing the pit. If this results in a bloody mess, blame someone else and go to the ER and get some stitches.* When you get back from the ER, layer 3-4 avocado slices on a rice cake and sprinkle a bit of sea salt on it. I actually used cayenne pepper, for a little heat.
*This did NOT happen to me, though I non-seriously cut myself on occasion.
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