A lot is going on in this compact dish. The chewy black rice cake, fresh salmon patty, crisp salmon skin, and velvety egg yolk are complemented by the acidity and mild heat of the green peppercorn drizzle. Wonderful.
My family are my ultimate critics. Sometimes their criticism is brutal, though constructive. So many recipes on delectabilia have benefitted from their honest input. This black rice cake and fresh salmon patty recipe got an unusual and enthusiastic thumbs up.
The black rice cake
A couple of things I had to learn on this journey… There are some recipes for black rice cakes that say the starch in the black rice is enough to hold them together. Maybe it was the brand of rice I used, but that wasn’t the case for me. I used an egg, together with the caramelised fennel, to hold everything together. This worked, had a great texture, and was so delicious! It had a crispy exterior from the frying and a slightly chewy anise infused centre.
The fresh salmon patty
The salmon patty combines fresh salmon with some smoked salmon to produce a patty with incredible depth of flavour. The garlic, mayo, and lemon juice help highlight the wonderful taste of salmon. This combination was so good. I also used it in these salmon and avocado burgers and this salmon banh mi recipe.
The green peppercorn drizzle
The importance of this sauce should not be underestimated. Neither the black rice cake, the fresh salmon patty, nor the poached egg contain a significant level of balancing acidity. That is where the green peppercorn drizzle come in. It works together with the other ingredients to create that balance.
Unlike the familiar dried black or white peppercorns, fresh green peppercorns have a mild heat and deeper flavour. Vietnam is one of the world’s primary producers of peppercorns, especially Phu Quoc island. So fresh green peppercorns are easy to come by here. Unless you live in the tropics, in a place where pepper is grown, it may be difficult to source fresh green peppercorns. Although, according to the NY Times, it is available in New York. Amazon also has packaged green peppercorns.
Should you not be able to source fresh green peppercorns, use pickled green peppercorns instead. They are widely available in Asian markets and on Amazon.
Crispy black rice cake. Fresh salmon patty. Poached egg. Green peppercorn drizzle.
Ingredients
Black rice cakes
- 1 cup black rice
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 1 large egg
Salmon patties
- 250 g fresh salmon skin on
- 150 g smoked salmon
- 1 medium sized sweet potato
- 1 red pepper small(ish)
- 1 small onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 10 g butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp mayonaise
- 1 lemon juice plus zest from half the lemon
- 1/2 cup parsley leaves finely diced
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp fish sauce or 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup polenta
Poached eggs
- 4 eggs as fresh as possible
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp salt
Green peppercorn drizzle
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil substitute 2 Tbsp with truffle infused oil if you like
- zest from a lemon
- juice from a lemon
- 1 Tbsp fresh green peppercorns crushed
- 1 Tbsp fresh green peppercorns
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp smoked kelp optional
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Black rice cakes
- In a medium saucepan, mix together the black rice, water, and salt.
- Bring rice to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 40 minutes.
- Turn off heat and allow to cool, keeping the cover on.
- Refrigerate when cool. Can be cooked the day before.
- Finely dice the fennel bulbs.
- Sauté slowly over a low heat until they start to caramelize (turn a golden colour). Be careful not to burn them.
- Lightly whisk the egg.
- Mix the caramelized fennel and egg into the cooked black rice.
- Rub some oil on your hands and form the rice into patties, pressing them together firmly.
- Cover and refrigerate until required.
- Fry in oil until crispy, about 3 – 4 minutes per side.
Salmon patties
- Wash the sweet potato and bake, skin on, for 1 hour.
- Dice the red pepper into very small pieces. Dice a small onion into very small pieces. Add finely diced garlic.
- Fry onion, pepper, and garlic in olive oil until softened. Let cool.
- Peel the skin from the sweet potato and add the flesh to a bowl.
- Remove the skin from the salmon and set the skin aside.
- Dice the fresh salmon into 5mm chunks.
- Dice the smoked salmon into 5mm pieces.
- Lightly whisk the egg.
- Add half the diced fresh salmon to the bowl with the sweet potato.
- Use a potato masher to mash the sweet potato and salmon together.
- Add to the bowl the fresh salmon chunks, the diced smoked salmon, lemon juice and zest, mayonnaise, egg, panko crumbs, parsley, sautéed onion and red pepper, fish sauce (or salt), and ground black pepper.
- Mix together until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Form into patties the same size as the black rice cakes, dust with polenta, cover and refrigerate until required.
- Once the oil is hot, add the salmon patties to the pan, in batches, and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned.
Green peppercorn drizzle
- Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake until combined and emulsified. Refrigerate.
Poached eggs
- Poach the eggs using a method you are comfortable with. I used Heston Blumenthal’s method.
- Immediately transfer to iced water to stop the cooking.
- When ready to serve, reheat in hot (80 degC) water.
Salmon skin
- Cut the salmon skin from the fillet into 10mm strips.
- Sprinkle with salt.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the salmon skin, skin side down.
- Fry until crispy, then turn over and fry the fleshy side.
- Drain on paper towels.
To Serve
- Put a salmon cake on top of a black rice cake. Put a poached egg on top of the salmon cake. Add some crispy salmon skin. Drizzle with the green peppercorn drizzle.
Pan-seared foie gras with a chocolate and orange sauce, dates and walnuts.
»