I’m a big fan of Melbourne chef Andrew McConnell and I thought I’d like to recreate a dish I’d read about from his new restaurant, Supernormal. I can guarantee that the following would be nothing like his original, but when I made it for our gang of friends recently, we all loved it – happily ignorant, of course, of what we were really missing.
The rice-cakes, for instance, are crispy, but since I’m not a big fan of deep-frying I oven-baked them instead, and while they weren’t exactly crunchy they were still delicious. Promise.
Jan
SAUTEED MUSHROOMS AND KOHLRABI PUREE WITH STICKY RICE-CAKES AND SWEET SOY
(Serves 10- 12)
Kohlrabi Puree
2 kohlrabi, peeled and diced
½ teaspoon salt
Place kohlrabi in a saucepan, add salt, cover with water and simmer for about 30 minutes till soft. Mash, sieve and blend the kohlrabi to a smooth cream. Reheat it in a small saucepan as required.
Sauce
20 ml Chinese black vinegar
40 ml gluten-free light soy sauce
60 ml gluten-free kecap manis or sweet soy sauce (or see below for our recipe to make your own)
20 ml macadamia oil
Whisk sauce ingredients together to amalgamate.
Sauteed Mushrooms
1 kg mixed mushrooms: enoki, cloud ear, shitake, pearl, Swiss brown
80 ml macadamia oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic chives
Add 2 tablespoons of macadamia oil to a large wok and heat. Quickly stir fry half the mushrooms. Repeat with the other half, add the garlic chives, then return the first mushrooms to the pan. Add 60 ml of the sauce and mix well.
Glutinous Rice-cakes
60 ml macadamia oil
20 gm fresh ginger, finely diced
60 gm Swiss brown mushrooms, finely diced
500 gm glutinous rice
650 ml water
75 ml gluten-free soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
25 ml Chinese black vinegar
50 ml gluten-free light soy sauce
70 ml sweet soy sauce
Heat 30ml of the macadamia oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally till softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 3 minutes. When the vegetables are soft add the rice and stir for another 3 minutes.
Turn the heat to high and add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil, then cover the pan and bring the heat to a minimum. Cook the rice for 15 minutes, leave to stand for 10 minutes then fluff it up with a fork. It will be caramel-coloured and very sticky.
Line 25cm x 20cm tray with baking paper and spread with the rice. Flatten the surface, cover with plastic or paper and place a weight on top (I used a cookbook, perfect).
Refrigerate to set, then upturn the tray onto a board and cut the rice into 3cm squares. (For convenience, the rice-cakes can be prepared to this point a day or two earlier.)
When you’re ready to eat, heat oven to 180°C fan forced. Brush the rice cakes with the remaining macadamia oil and place them on lined oven trays with lots of room around them so they can crisp up.
Cook for around 20 minutes, until they’re crisp on the outside and soft and unctuous in the middle.
To Serve
Place a couple of spoonsful of kohlrabi puree in the centre of each plate. Add three or four rice cakes to each serving, top with some mushrooms and finish with a little more sauce.
Gluten-free Kecap Manis
125 ml water
250 gm palm sugar or dark brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic, pressed with the side of a knife
2 star anise
125 ml tamari or rich gluten-free soy sauce
Heat water and sugar in a saucepan, stirring till sugar dissolves.
Add garlic and star anise, bring to the boil and continue cooking for around 30 minutes to caramelise and reduce the sugar, watching carefully to make sure the bubbling lava doesn’t lift out of the pan, which it will try to do!
When the caramel is thick and syrupy, carefully add the soy sauce. Cook for a further 5 minutes, strain, cool and pour into a sterilised jar. This makes around 300ml of sauce which, refrigerated, keeps well for months.