Thanks again to Gold’n Plump for sending me some of their ground chicken product.  I’ve had fun this past week doing some experimental cooking with the chicken, trying to get out of the mindset that it’s “white beef,” and can replace any beefy dish as we know it.  Considering I don’t really eat beef, but have recently started sampling more from the poultry category, I’m not only excited try the white meat alternative of traditionally beefy meals, but I also want to get a  little creative.

Enter, Recipe #1:

Steamed Chicken and Rice Balls with Dipping Sauce

I found this recipe on FoodNetwork.com simply by searching for ‘ground chicken’.  I thought it’d be a perfect contribution to a sort-of potluck Chris and I attended on Friday night, as it was the perfect dish to both sample and share.  Here’s the recipe as it’s posted on the Food Network website:

Ingredients

For the rice balls:
1 cup uncooked short-grain white rice
1 pound ground chicken
1 egg, well beaten
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, finely chopped
5 pickled jalapenos, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon salt
Lettuce or cabbage leaves to prevent rice balls from sticking
For the dipping sauce:
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons simple syrup (equal amounts of sugar and water heated until sugar melts, then cooled)

Directions

Rinse rice and soak for 2 to 3 hours. Drain and set aside.
Mix together the chicken, egg, onion, water chestnuts, jalapenos, cilantro, and salt in a bowl. Shape into 24 (1-inch) balls.

Cover a baking sheet with waxed paper. Spread the rice onto a flat surface and roll the balls of chicken to coat with rice. Place the rice balls on the waxed paper, cover with a second piece of waxed paper, and refrigerate or freeze for at least 1 hour. Once chilled, you can transfer the rice balls to an airtight container, separating them with layers of waxed paper, and refrigerate or freeze for future use.

When it’s almost time to serve, boil water in a pot or the bottom half of a steamer. Line the steaming basket or top half of the steamer with the lettuce leaves, place the rice balls on top of the lettuce, cover, and steam over a rolling boil for about 30 minutes.

To make the dipping sauce, stir together the soy sauce, lime juice, and simple syrup. Serve in a small bowl alongside the rice balls.

These are my edits to the recipe:

I used Boil-in-a-Bag brown rice instead, considering the first step in the directions is to let rice soak for 2-3 hours and I had about 90 minutes to put all of this together.  I cooked it just short of it’s full cooking time, and could’ve skimped even further.  (The instructions said to boil it for 8-10 minutes. I boiled for 7, and should’ve cut that back to 5.  Either way, it worked out).

I skipped the water chestnuts.  I hate water chestnuts.  I also skipped the pickled jalapenos because I couldn’t find them at the grocery store.

As for the cabbage leaves.  I used red cabbage, mostly because it was the smallest available size I could grab from the grocery store.  However, you’ll notice a faint hint of pinkish-purple on the rice on the photos below.  That’s because the color from the red cabbage bled onto and absorbed into the rice.  I took the cabbage out of the steamer when I noticed this, but if you’re a Vikings fan or have any other reason to have pink or purple hors d’oeuvres, this would be a cool party trick.

I followed the instructions the first time through for the sauce, but made it again the next night and matched equal parts simple syrup to soy sauce and simmered it until it reduced down quite a bit.  This made the most delicious and savory sweet soy sauce, and is a recipe I will come back to many times for dipping and topping sauces.

What I’d do differently next time:

• Other than the already implied fact that I wouldn’t use red cabbage leaves, I’d also allow myself time for the full refrigeration as called for.  I cut this short quite a bit, and while they held up fine in the steamer, I’m sure they’d have been better and a bit non-stickier had I given them more time to set.
• I know the recipe is all about steaming these, but I’d give them a couple of minutes in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil after they’re cooked, just to brown them.  The rice is light and the chicken is a white meat, but for presentation’s sake I’d like to see them a little bit browned next time.

All in all, good start to this experimentation!

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

I left out one of the most crucial details of my second LA trip, not because I forgot about it or didn’t like it, just because I didn’t want to post this without the proper photo.

Oh trust me, it’s worth it.

What I failed to mention was this crazy phenomenon LA kids know of as “Taco Truck.”

Yes, TRUCK.

Apparently there are these various TRUCKS that show up at specific locations around the city after [bar] hours and serve up some delicious Mexican fare to the drunk and hungry masses.  Nico made sure I didn’t miss out on this during my visit last month, god bless him.

We’d spent the previous couple of hours at a bar in Nico’s neighborhood (Shooters?  Sneakers?  Help me out here, Nico) after I’d landed at LAX and by the time we left the bar, I was HUNGRY.

Enter: taco truck.

Patrons order at that little window and we waited probably 10 minutes or so from the time we put in our order until the time we were sitting on the median in the middle of the four-lane road, enjoying our little taco truck picnic.

I had chicken tacos and a cheese quesadilla and yes, my taste buds were totally blown away.  It was the perfect amount of carbs and cheese for this weary little nomad, and a phenomenon certainly worth NOT missing.

Thanks, Nico!

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.