[recipe] Vegetable Ginger Rice Balls

Here is the recipe of Vegetable Ginger Rice Balls.
This type of rice dish is called Takikomi-Gohan (炊き込みご飯) in Japanese. It is similar to Pilaf, which is rice cooked in broth with different ingredients: vegetables, fish, meat etc.

The recipe I want to present today is vegetarian.  If you want it vegan, just use proper wine.

VEGETABLE GINGER RICE BALLS

Total time: 1 hour and 35 minutes

    Preparation: 50 minutes
    Cooking: 15 minutes
    Resting: 15 minutes
    Moulding: 15 minutes

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

[A]

60 ml of White wine (use vegan one if you want)

15 ml of Soy sauce

325 ml of Water

2 g of Salt

10 g of Ginger - finely chopped

2 Carrots - shredded

100 g of Peas - boiled with salted water

[For toppings]

Toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Put the rice in a large colander and rinse it with running water

2. Drain the rice in the colander and leave them for 10 minutes (no more than 15 minutes anyway otherwise the surface of the rice will be dried too much)

3. Put the rice and the mixture of [A] in a pressure cooker and leave them for at least 30 minutes


4. Shred the carrots

5. Place the carrots over the rice

6. Close the lid of the cooker and heat it on medium/high heat until it begins to whistle

When whistle lower the heat to the minimum and continue to cook for 8 minutes*

*I usually use a heat diffuser for this step (remember to preheat it)

7. After 8 minutes, remove the cooker from the heat and wait 10 minutes before opening the lid to finish cooking the rice

 DO NOT OPEN THE COOKER EVER at this stage, otherwise the rice comes out undercooked.  

8. After 10 minutes, open the cooker and place the peas on the carrots

then with a wooden or silicone spatula stir the rice gently (bottom to up, a side to another), being careful not to break or crush the grains


9. Close the cooker again and wait 5 more minutes

10. Take a silicone mould for cake pops and put the ginger rice in both parts

(If you don't have it, go to step 14)

Occasionally dip the spoon in water with a little vinegar, so the rice does not stick to it.

11. Put the two parts of the mould together, keep it tight in hand and shake it vigorously

12. Open the top mould and add some more rice

13. Put the two parts of the mould together again, keep it tight in hand and shake it vigorously

14. At this point, the rice balls would be ready, but if you want them firmer mould them one by one with cling film

 

15. Here they are! Sprinkle some toasted sesame if you like.

By the way, we are still waiting for the school report for our son Andrea.
I'm so nervous!

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