SSS Week 15 – Palma’s Tropical Rice Salad
I’m back on the SlowTrav Sunday Slow cooking track. I missed some really great salads while we were gone. I hope to catch up at some point. But, in the meantime, I couldn’t have come back to a better choice than Palma’s!
I made very few changes in the recipe as presented. I did want to swing the flavor profile a little more toward the asian and away from the tropical. So I used my favorite quality sushi rice instead of plain white rice. I also eliminated the canned mandarin oranges and used fresh pineapple instead of canned.
The sushi rice absorbed the flavors of the chicken stock very nicely. To manage the stickiness, I cooled it down rapidly in an ice bath. It had just the right amount of stick to bind with the fresh ingredients of the salad, and yet not be clumpy.
I added chopped fresh cilantro and red pepper flakes to the dressing and served with pineapple glazed, grilled chicken strips.
Thanks, Palma, for another great recipe. You’re one of my foodie heros.
Great idea using the sushi rice,looks great!
Your photos are great! And I liked the Asian slant that you gave to the recipe.
Love the way you tweaked this one. And the chicken on top just looks delicious!
You are the only person so far who had heard of gooseberries! I’d heard of them (and had had jam before) but had never eaten a fresh one. Pie sounds really good.
Deborah responds: Annie, my grandmother made the best goosberry pie. It’s tart, kind of like a tart cherry pie but more of a rubarb (minus the strawberries) pie. Some people soften it by making it with a pudding or custard base, but I like it as a stand alone fruit pie.
Thanks for all the info. I looked in an old cookbook that belonged to my grandmother (from the 50’s) and found a recipe for gooseberry pie and gooseberry fool (made with heavy cream).
The berries I bought were definitely sweet not tart but maybe there are different varieties? I’ll ask the farmer next time I’m at the market. I love discovering new foods like this!