Rice peanut balls

Having a home party? Then you may think of this tasty dish as a snack to amaze your friends. These balls have so many flavour inside. Being coated with chopped peanut and then deep-fried, the balls become crunchy outside yet chewy inside. Guess what is there inside? It is the mash cooked rice mixed with various kinds of seasoning and herbs.

This dish belongs to Thai cuisine with its typical hot chili taste. In addition, peanuts, fish sauce, turmeric, lime and other seasonings are very popular in other Thai dishes. Making this dish is quite time-consuming, however, it’s worth trying. When making the inside rice balls, it would be very sticky, so prepare to cope with that. I am not a fan of hot stuffs, and these balls turned out to be a bit too spicy for me. So next time, I will remember to reduce some chilies. If you prefer them hotter, you can have them dipped in sweet chili sauce. If not, then serve them as they are.

Because the rice inside is pre-cooked, so it only takes time for the peanut coating to get brown in oil. In order to reduce the cooking time to get the brown color of the peanuts, I roasted peanuts on the pan first. So I didn’t have to deep-fry them too long, and so less oil would absorb into the rice, which made me feel that the balls were healthier

Ingredients: (make 16)

- 1 garlic clove, crushed

- 1 cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

- 1 tsp granulated sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp chilli sauce

- 2 tsp fish sauce

- 2 tbs (or more if you like) chopped fresh cilantro

- juice of 1/2 lime

- 225g cooked white long grain rice

- 115g pan roasted peanuts, chopped

- vegetable oil, for deep-frying

- lime wedge and chilli dipping sauce, to serve

Cooking:

- Put the garlic, ginger, turmeric in a food processor or blender, process until the mixture forms a paste. Add the sugar, salt, chili sauce and fish sauce, with the chopped cilantro and lime juice. Process briefly to mix the ingredients.

- Add three-quarters of the cooked rice to the paste in the food processor and process until smooth and sticky. Scrape into a mixing bowl and stir in the remaining rice. Wet your hands and shape the mixture into thumb-size balls.

- Place the chopped peanuts in a dish and roll the balls in them, making sure they are evenly coated.

- Heat the oil in a wok. Add the peanut balls and cook until crisp. Drain well on kitchen paper.

- Serve hot with lime wedges and chilli dipping sauce, if you like.