Red Rice & Herb Cake

Name: Red rice & herb cake
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 2½ cups cooked jasmine rice; 50g butter; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; Salt flakes, to taste; Handful Asian herbs, sliced

Every rice-centred cuisine has a version of fried rice to use up leftover cooked rice. I created this red rice & herb cake inspired by the Vietnamese tomato rice, cơm đỏ, which chef Mark Jensen introduced me to. It’s a great way to not only use up excess steamed rice but also any sprigs of Asian herbs you have on hand, I love it with perilla, Vietnamese mint and Thai basil. Served with some slices of cucumber and lettuce leaves – and a few slices of char siu if you like – it goes from being a side dish to a complete meal. You can add some Vietnamese pickles on the side too (see video below). And since we’re in multi-cultural Australia, enjoy it with a glass of Roditis Natur from Greek winery Tetramythos, an easy-drinking white with a nice touch of acid to balance the butter.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

2½ cups cooked jasmine rice (460g/1lb)
50g butter ( 1¾oz)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste (40ml/45g)
Handful Asian herbs, sliced

Method

Put rice into a large bowl and use wet hands to break it up.
Melt butter in a wok or frying pan over medium heat.
Add garlic and cook for a minute or so, until fragrant.
Add rice, increase heat and stir to coat well.
Add tomato paste and keep stirring until it’s evenly distributed.
Taste and add salt.
Press down to form a flat cake.
Reduce heat to very low and continue frying for 20–30 minutes, until the base is crisp and well coloured (if the heat is low enough, you can leave it even longer to get really crisp).
Loosen the edges of the cake with a spatula, place a plate over the frying pan and invert cake onto the plate.
Scatter herbs over the top and serve.