Roasted rice cakes in a sweet and spicy sauce

Rice cakes are gelatinous, chewy, and a bit of an acquired texture. Rice cakes don’t have a lot of flavor on their own since they are made from rice. I first had them at Momofuku Ssam bar, and was hooked ever since, they do it roasted in a spicy Korean sauce. Roasted rice cakes are different because of the roasting. Roasting them in oil in a cast iron skillet crisps up the rice cake giving it a toasty, crunchy outside and a soft, chewy inside. It’s an addictive combination. I tried some of the roasted cakes right out of the pan and they were delicious just like that. The cakes were delicious plain, but they were even better when you tossed them in my own sweet and spicy sauce made with chipotles and sriracha.

Roasted Rice Cakes

for sauce:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

2 chipotles in adobo sauce, finely diced

1 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce

1/3 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Mirin

1 package rice cakes, cut into logs, then into bite-sized pieces

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 Tbsp chopped chives

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

2 onions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Combine sugar and water and cook under medium heat until sugar is dissolved. add chipotle and Sriracha, reduce.
2. Boil the broth and Mirin until lightly reduced in a separate pan. Then combine the sweet sauce with the Mirin/broth sauce and reduce under medium heat.
3. In a pan over medium heat, caramelize the onions until super fragrant and brown, around 20 minutes.
4. In a cast-iron pan, toast the logs of rice cakes for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Cut the browned cakes into bite sized pieces and toss into the sauce.
5. Let flavors develop in the cakes in the sauce for a few minutes, top with chives and sesame seeds, enjoy!