Rice Cracker Salad

A rice cracker and roasted eggplant salad inspired by Lao/Isan recipes.

Inspired by the incredible cookbook “a child of rice fields”. This is a mash up of two Lao/Isan recipes: eggplant salad (yum makeua yao) and rice cracker salad (naem pa). Traditionally the rice cracker salad is served with a smoked fish, so I figured the soft roasted eggplant would serve as a nice contrast to the crunchiness of the rice cracker.

Notes

Using the store bought cracker is a great shortcut vs the painstaking process of deep frying rice yourself like you would do for naem khao tod.

Ingredients

  • 200g rice cakes (I use this Japanese brand)
  • 2 lb eggplant
  • 2 T lime
  • 2 T Fish Sauce (or Soy if vegan)
  • Optionally: 3 tbsp of a citrus jam (homemade with kumquat) or Korean yuzu cheong
  • Optional: 100g chopped sour fruit (green mango, stair fruit, green apples, whatever else you can find)
  • 30g coriander + 30g mint
  • 50g fried shallots
  • 50g spring onions
  • 8-10 fried chilis

Instructions

  1. Roast eggplant until skin is fully blistered and eggplant is soft, peel and slice up eggplant into pieces.
  2. Gently break up the rice cakes using a pestle. You want little chunks, not dust.
  3. Mix everything and toss in dressing.
  4. Serve with lettuce / perilla leaves.