Asian Rice Balls with Chinese Cabbage and Mango

Ingredients

• 300 g sushi rice
• 1 Carrot
• 1 stalk leek
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 0.5 tbsp sugar
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 0.5 small Chinese cabbage (ca. 400 g)
• 1 Mango
• 1 red pepper
• 1 cherry-sized piece ginger
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds (hulled)
• oil for frying
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp Lime juice
• 2 tbsp red chili chicken sauce (ready-made)
• 100 ml vegetable broth (ready-made)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash sushi rice in a sieve with clear water until the water runs clear. Drain briefly, then bring to a boil with 300 ml water in a pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 25 minutes, clamping a clean dish towel between pot and lid.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile peel or trim carrot and leek, wash them. Dice carrot and an ~8 cm piece of leek into very fine cubes. Add vegetable cubes to rice five minutes before the end of cooking and continue steaming covered.

3. 3.

   Whisk rice vinegar, sugar and salt together until sugar dissolves. Gently fold into the vegetable rice and let cool.

4. 4.

   Clean, rinse Chinese cabbage and slice lengthwise into wide strips. Slice remaining leek diagonally into pieces. Peel mango, remove flesh from core, then cut into bite-sized chunks. Trim pepper, wash and slice into strips. Peel ginger and mince.

5. 5.

   Using well‑moistened hands form small balls from the vegetable rice and roll them in sesame seeds.

6. 6.

   Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the rice balls for about 5 minutes until golden all around, remove, drain on paper towels and keep warm.

7. 7.

   In a wok, heat sesame oil, then briefly stir‑fry leek, ginger and pepper. Add lime juice, red chili chicken sauce and vegetable broth. Toss in Chinese cabbage and mango, warming through. Season with soy sauce and serve alongside the rice balls.