Chipotle and biltong rice balls

Crispy fried Mexican rice balls topped with a tangy lime cream and pickled red onions.

Makes 24 rice balls

Easy

1 hour

5 min

RECIPE DEVELOPED BY:

Lola Lambrechts - ICA third year student specialising in Culinary Media Communication

STYLING & PHOTOGRAPHY:

Lola Lambrechts - ICA third year student specialising in Culinary Media Communication

WINE PAIRING:

PICKLED RED ONIONS

125 ml (½ cup) white wine vinegar

125 ml (½ cup) water

7.5 ml (1½ tsp) salt

15 ml (1 tbsp) sugar

¼ (40 g) large red onion, julienned

MEXICAN RICE BALLS

15 ml (1 tbsp) sunflower oil + extra for deep frying

½ (80 g) large red onion, diced

2 (8 g) cloves garlic, creamed

5 ml (1 tsp) cumin seeds

5 ml (1 tsp) smoked paprika

5 ml (1 tsp) fine salt

310 ml (1¼ cups) water

125 ml (½ cup) rice

90 ml (6 tbsp) Santa Anna’s Smoky Chipotle Salsa

180ml (¾ cup) Manchego cheese, grated

100g biltong, thinly sliced

15ml (1 tbsp) fresh coriander, chopped

2 large eggs, beaten

1 (185g) bag Santa Anna’s Cheese Flavour Corn Tortilla Chips, finely ground

LIME CREAM

200 ml (¾ cup / 200g) sour cream

3 limes, zested

½ lime, juiced

2.5 ml (½ tsp) salt

TO SERVE

A handful of micro coriander leaves

1 lime, zested

For the pickled red onions, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil.
Place the julienned red onion in a bowl and pour the hot pickling liquid over. Set aside to cool.
For the Mexican rice balls, heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the red onion and garlic until translucent, 2 minutes.
Add the cumin seeds, paprika and salt and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
Add the water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid and cook for 15–20 minutes.
Spread the cooked rice onto a tray and refrigerate until chilled.
Combine the chilled rice with Santa Anna’s Smoky Chipotle Salsa, Manchego cheese, biltong and chopped coriander.
Divide the rice mixture into 24 portions of 25 g each and roll into balls by hand.
Place the balls on a lined tray and freeze for 30 minutes.
Dip each ball into the beaten eggs, then into the finely ground Santa Anna’s Corn Tortilla Chips. Repeat the process to form a double crust.
Heat the sunflower oil for deep frying to 180°C. Fry the rice balls in batches until golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper and season to taste.
For the lime cream, stir all of the ingredients together.
To serve, top each fried rice ball with a spoonful of lime cream. Add some pickled onions and garnish with micro coriander leaves and lime zest.

TIP: Grated aged cheddar or Parmesan cheese can be used as a substitute for Manchego.

As part of a unique partnership with @SantaAnnas, ICA third-year students were tasked with creating original recipes using Santa Anna’s range of authentic Mexican-style products – reimagined through a South African lens. The theme: Mexican Style, South African GEES!

This dish was developed, styled and photographed by Culinary Media Communication student Lola Lambrechts. The deep-fried rice balls are made with chipotle salsa, biltong and Manchego cheese, and finished with lime cream, pickled onions and micro coriander.

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