Asian Rice Balls

For the rice (you will also need a roll of plastic wrap):
Blend garlic, ginger, shallot, sugar, sesame oil and salt together in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot and then fry your paste for a few minutes until fragrant.

Pour rice into the pot and stir to coat with the fried paste. Once rice is slightly translucent, pour water into the pot along with your vegetable stock cube.

Stir, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn heat off and leave the pot covered for a further 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove lid and tip green onions in. Stir to disperse. Immediately spoon about 2 tablespoons of rice onto a piece of cling wrap. Wrap it up and squeeze it into a ball with your hands. You want to compress the rice well so that it doesn’t fall apart later. Repeat with remaining rice. My wife made 8 medium-sized rice balls from the quantity of rice mentioned above. Set balls aside.

For the breading: Combine flour with a dash of salt in one bowl. Place panko in another bowl and then in yet another bowl combine flax, water, salt and white pepper. Whisk to combine and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Heat oil in a pot. Dredge rice balls in flour, then coat in flax gel, and finally coat with panko. Fry balls until they are golden all around. Once golden, remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve on salad leaves. Top with chili paste.

For the chili paste:
Blend all ingredients together in a Nutribullet or any blender you have.

For the salad:
Place salad leaves, cucumber slices and cilantro in a bowl. Top with rice balls and drizzle with soy sauce, sweet soy and sesame oil.