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Home » Salads & Sides » Asian Rice Balls

Asian Rice Balls

Last updated on January 27, 2021 By Crazy Vegan 7 Comments

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Vegan Asian Rice Balls - a modern vegan twist of Hainanese Chicken Rice, without the chicken! #vegan #chickenrice #recipe | CrazyVeganKitchen.comFor anyone who hasn’t been to Southeast Asia, or Singapore in particular, Chicken Rice is undoubtedly one of the most popular dishes around. Eaten by almost everyone and available almost any and everywhere,  it’s one of Singapore’s most iconic dishes. Delicious jasmine rice is served alongside poached or roasted chicken and accompanied by coriander, cucumber, soy and a potent chilli sauce. Of course, with all of its great deliciousness also comes a price to pay – calories and saturated fat! The flavored rice is usually mixed in with rendered chicken fat before cooking, thus resulting in very fragrant, super-tasty rice that is, admittedly, also rather oily and unhealthy.

Vegan Asian Rice Balls - a modern vegan twist of Hainanese Chicken Rice, without the chicken! #vegan #chickenrice #recipe | CrazyVeganKitchen.comWith all that in mind, I tried my hand out at making her own, healthier version of Chicken Rice… with a vegan twist. In other words, chicken rice without the chicken, and rice without the guilt. We came up with the idea to cook jasmine rice with the usual chicken rice flavorings, sans chicken fat and stock. We replaced it with good ol Vegetable stock and then stirred in lots of chopped green onions for extra flavor. The cooked rice then has to be shaped into tight balls very quickly whilst the rice is still hot (wear gloves if you can’t handle the heat) and then left to cool before being breaded  (yes, breaded! That’s our own little twist) and then shallow-fried with very minimal oil. Once fried, the rice balls are then served on a salad of mixed mesclun, cucumber, coriander and a simple sesame soy dressing before finally being topped with a lovely chilli sauce.

You may be wondering: how does one bread something without using egg as an adhesive agent?! My wife decided to use flaxseed gel (usually used as an egg replacement in Vegan baking). We found that it worked beautifully in mimicking egg wash. We’ll definitely use flaxseed gel in all our breading from now on!

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    Vegan Asian Rice Balls - a modern vegan twist of Hainanese Chicken Rice, without the chicken! #vegan #chickenrice #recipe | CrazyVeganKitchen.comVerdict: The rice balls were absolutely lip smacking. I loved them! With a crunchy crumb coating and light salad underneath – who needs any damn meat. And OMG – that wonderful chilli sauce is to die for! Becoming Vegan has never been easier.

    Without further delay, here is the recipe for our original take on an iconic dish: Vegan Asian Rice Balls as we call them. Enjoy!

    Vegan Asian Rice Balls - a modern vegan twist of Hainanese Chicken Rice, without the chicken! #vegan #chickenrice #recipe | CrazyVeganKitchen.com

    Asian Rice Balls | MyWIfeMakes.com

    Asian Rice Balls

    Crazy Vegan Kitchen
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 30 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 45 mins
    Course Main
    Servings 2

    Ingredients
      

    • For the Rice:
    • 1 1/2 cups Jasmine Rice
    • 2 1/2 cups Water
    • 1 Vegetable Stock Cube
    • 15 grams Ginger
    • 15 grams Garlic
    • 15 grams Shallots
    • 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 2 teaspoons Vegetable oil
    • 1/2 cup Flour + 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
    • 1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseed + 1/2 cup Warm Water + 1/4 tsp Salt + 1/4 tsp White Pepper
    • Oil for frying
    • For Chilli:
    • 10 grams Dried Chilli
    • 40 grams Red Chilli
    • 10 grams Birds Eye Chillies
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 2 teaspoons Sugar
    • 15 grams Ginger
    • 10 grams Garlic
    • 20 grams Shallot
    • 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
    • 1/2 a Vegetable Stock Cube
    • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
    • 1/2 cup Water
    • To Serve:
    • Mesclun Cucumber, Coriander
    • Dressing:
    • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
    • 2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
    • 1 Tablespoon Dark Sweet Soy Sauce

    Instructions
     

    • For the rice: Blend garlic, ginger, shallot, sugar, sesame oil and salt together till a smooth paste forms. Heat sesame oil in a deep pot and then fry your paste for a few minutes till fragrant.
    • Pour rice into the pot and stir to coat with fried paste. Once rice is slightly translucent, pour water into the pot along with your vegetable stock cube. Stir, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn heat off and leave the pot covered for a further 10 minutes.
    • After 10 minutes, remove lid and tip green onions in. Stir to disperse. Immediately spoon about 2 Tablespoons of rice onto a piece of cling wrap. Wrap it up and squeeze it into a ball with your hands. You want to compress the rice well so that it doesn't fall apart later. Repeat with remaining rice. My wife made 8 medium-ish rice balls from the quantity of rice mentioned above.
    • Set balls aside.
    • Combine flour with salt in one bowl. Place panko in another bowl and then in yet another bowl combine flax, water, salt and white pepper. Whisk to combine and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
    • Heat oil in a pot. Dredge rice balls in flour, then coat in flax gel, and finally coat with Panko. Fry balls till they are golden all around. My wife rolls them around in a very shallow layer of oil instead of deep frying them. Once golden, drain on paper towels and serve on salad. Top with chilli.

    For Chilli:

    • Blend all ingredients together in a Nutribullet or any blender you have. My wife likes using the Nutribullet as she is able to just store the chilli in the blender container instead of having to transfer it into a seperate jar.

    For Salad:

    • Place mesclun, cucumber and coriander on a serving plate. Drizzle with soy/sesame oil. Finally drizzle with thick dark sweet soy before placing rice balls on top.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    Till next time, stay happy, stay filled!

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      Comments

      1. Laura says

        at

        Can these rice balls be frozen after breaded to be fried later?
        Reply
        • Amrita says

          at

          Hi Laura, unfortunately I think the rice may get a little mushy! You can refrigerate though :)
          Reply
      2. Liz says

        at

        Hi Amrita. I'm going to try to adapt this to use up already steamed rice with diced carrot and sweet potato. Might attempt the flaxmeal to bind them as the rice is cold in the fridge. All vegan, naturally. Love the chilli on top idea. Thnx, Liz
        Reply
      3. chrysta@noshed says

        at

        Is it weird to say that i love your balls? I have never tried making rice balls before...I have these pinned for this weekend. They look so good!
        Reply
        • Amrita @ Crazy Vegan Kitchen says

          at

          Hi Chrysta! This is one of my favourite recipes on the blog - so much tastier than just a side of plain old boring rice. I love my balls too. Levan
          Reply
      4. Maya @ Maya Kitchenette says

        at

        Gorgeous pictures :) Just wondering, what if you serve mock chicken with these instead? I have never tried it personally. Just a stray thought that came to my mind. :D
        Reply
        • Amrita @ Crazy Vegan Kitchen says

          at

          Actually, using mock chicken is a great idea that'll probably work! We considered doing it but the shops nearby ran out. I REALLY did love this dish though, it had the exact flavours of chicken rice! Levan
          Reply

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      Amrita @ Crazy Vegan Kitchen
      I'm the crazy cat behind this blog. Curious? Find out more about me.


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