Kasha-Kabocha Rice Cakes

Sometimes recipes twist and turn on you, becoming something new . Tonight, I attempted to make onigiri – a Japanese staple of shaped white rice wrapped in nori seaweed and filled with umeboshi plums or salmon. Somehow I ended up with baked buckwheat risotto cakes. I'm still not quite sure how that happened, but these cakes are too cute (and too tasty) for me to complain!

One caveat: these are time-intensive. You need roasted squash ready to go, though you can cut your prep time by opening up a can of pureed pumpkin (do not use pumpkin pie mix). You also need to let the kasha-rice-pumpkin mix cool before you shape the cakes. And then you have to bake the cakes. A quick weeknight meal, these are not.

Okay, two caveats: these cakes are messy. Your hands will get covered in grainy goop. I confess, however, that I have not perfected my molding technique, so that probably contributed to the mess.

I am planning on taking these to a potluck tomorrow, where I will serve them with a cilantro-yogurt-orange dipping sauce. Hopefully I will hear no complaints!

Kasha-Kabocha Rice Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup kasha
1/2 cup white short-grain rice, like arborio
3/4 cup roasted kabocha squash, mashed
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp slivered almonds
1 portobello mushroom cap, chopped finely
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic
1/2 inch fresh ginger
olive oil for spraying

spices:

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
black pepper, just a sprinkle


Measure the kasha and the arborio rice into a saucepan. Add three cups of water and the salt. Bring the saucepan to a boil, then cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. The rice and kasha will cook in ten to fifteen minutes. When the kasha becomes mushy and the rice is tender, stir in the sugar, rice vinegar, and kabocha squash.

In a skillet on medium-high heat, cook the shallots, garlic and ginger in olive oil, black pepper and salt. Add the cinnamon and cumin.When the shallots become translucent and brown, add the mushroom cap, almonds and raisins. When the mushroom cap is cooked, stir in the shallots and mushrooms into the kasha, rice, and kabocha. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with olive oil.

Using an onigiri mold, press the rice mixture into shapes, then arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet. If you do not have onigiri molds, shape the rice into balls with your hands.

Spray the pan with olive oil. Bake the rice cakes until they become brown and a little crispy on the outside, anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes depending on your oven and the size of the cakes.