Crispy Sesame Rice Cake Appetizers with Tuna Tataki… Sort of!

It was quite a journey I had to take to get to this point using President’s Choice’s Tuna Tataki Sustainably Sourced Seared Wild Albacore Tuna to make this delectable bite! Was it worth it? Hell ya! Would I recommend it? Read the post first and decide for yourself…

The Products

If you are lucky you will find PC’s Tuna Tataki in the frozen fish section of your store. It was just under $9 and I got the last one. There is also a salmon version which I am looking forward to trying. 

Inside you will find beautiful slices of wild albacore tuna that has already been seasoned and seared. Amazing! Such a high quality product for under $10 and in my package there were 17 slices, as well as a beautiful soy and sesame sauce. 

I discovered this sticky rice by PC at my Superstore as well which is what I used for this recipe. Sorry but I can not find this product on their site.

The Recipe

Put 1 cup of rinsed sticky rice in a medium sauce pan with 1 ½ cups water, 1 ½ tsp mirin, 1/2 tsp rice vinegar and 1/2 tsp sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat then reduce to low, cover and cook for 12 minutes. Stir in 1/2 tsp salt. 

To cool quickly, spread rice out in a large wide-bottom bowl. Cool completely.

Assembly

Wet hands with water, keeping a small bowl of water nearby for dipping fingers (easier to work with rice). Divide rice mixture in half and place each on a large square of plastic wrap.

Roll each into a log about 6 inches long, using plastic wrap as guide to help roll and form shape. Pinch ends tightly to ensure rice is compact. Let stand 15 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap. Use a sharp knife (wet knife blade with water, if easier) to cut each log into 6 even rounds. With wet hands, press and shape into total of 12, 1/2-inch thick cakes. 

Sprinkle cut sides of cakes with sesame seeds, pressing gently to adhere.

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat; sear cakes, in batches and turning once, 3 or 4 minutes per side or until golden.

Transfer cakes to parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 325F oven until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; drizzle cakes with accompanying Tataki sauce.

Yeah, that is when the PC recipe went off the rails. Now I know it can be done because we did at the PC holiday party but at home? No way! 

So I got creative! I bought a Rice Cube when I was in Gananoque a few years ago and it has been on my kitchen counter waiting to be used ever since. 

It worked so easily and brilliantly! What a kitchen save that was. I continued with the recipe:

Top each cake with 1 tsp of the Sriracha Mayo and the tuna. 

Garnish with green onions. BTW, instead of adding the sesame sauce to the rice, I drizzled it on top of the tuna. 

OK, that is beautiful! Visually and in my tummy. So good!

Playing With Food

Since that ended up being so much easier than frying and baking the rice cakes, I went ahead and made a bunch more and decided to get a little artsy with the PC Sriracha Mayo Sandwich Spread.

I gave it a bad rap for being a sandwich spread but for this? It is perfect! It added lovely texture, colour, flavour and just a wee bit of heat to the dish.

Now that is a Suzie The Foodie-style appetizer with President’s Choice’s Tuna Tataki. So delicious and fun to eat. I smeared the finger food across the plate to pick up the spread and sesame sauce. Yes, I ate the whole plate for lunch and loved every bite.

I am so glad I made this dish. I now own rice for making sushi at home and also know how to cook it. I finally used a kitchen tool that made my life so much easier. And? Any excuse to have that tuna is fine with me. It is an exquisite product that I hope President’s Choice will keep in their seafood aisle past the holidays because it is a winner and gets five out of five wooden spoons from me.

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