Recipe: Crispy rice waffles with smoked salmon and lemon yoghurt

If you don’t have a waffle maker, you can still make these rice waffles by cooking flattened rice cakes in a skillet until golden brown and crispy on both sides.

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CRISPY RICE WAFFLES WITH SMOKED SALMON AND LEMON YOGURT

For 4 people

Ingredients

1 cup sushi rice or sticky Thai rice

1½ cups cold water

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

½ cup thick Greek yogurt

200g cold smoked salmon slices

Fried shallots (available at Asian food stores and supermarkets)

A handful of rocket leaves

Method

Wash the rice 3 times in cold water then drain it well and transfer it to a saucepan. Add cold water, cover and soak for 30 minutes.

Uncover the pan, put on high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, cover the pan again, lower the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, use a fork to fluff up the rice and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and let stand for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 120°C. Preheat a waffle iron over high heat.

Brush both sides of the waffle maker with oil. Using damp hands to prevent the rice from sticking, form the rice into 4 equal balls. Place a flattened rice ball in the center of the waffle maker, close the lid by pressing gently and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining rice balls. Keep the rice waffles warm in the oven, sitting on a baking sheet, while you prepare the remaining waffles.

Mix the lemon zest with the yogurt.

To serve, garnish each rice waffle with 2-3 slices of salmon, a spoonful of lemon yoghurt, a few shallots and a few leaves of arugula.