The Food That Made Me

5/30/2025

Kids, today I attempted the sizzling rice soup. I used the Made With Lau recipe as my base. It needed shrimp and chicken, but I just made it vegetarian because I didn’t have shrimp and the chicken wasn’t defrosted. Plus, mommy says that we don’t eat enough veggies.

Anyways, here is how you make it.

1. Prepare the sizzling rice. You can buy it which is expensive and doesn’t taste as good. Or, you can make it.
   1. So, I decided to make it. I made two cups of glutenous rice in the rice cooker using a one to one ratio with water. It worked out. The bottom was a tad soggy, but the top to middle was perfect. So, maybe I have to experiment a bit in the future.
   2. Then, once the rice is done and still hot, flatten the rice on an air fry tray like in one in the picture. It has lots of tiny cross marks so it helps with circulation and drying it out. Mommy had the wonderful idea of also propping it on a metal rack to also improve air circulation for the bottom. Hooray for mommy’s contraption. And, I also put it in the fridge for a day, but probably two days is better.
   3. I tried the Made with Lau way by wrapping it with cling wrap and then air drying it. There was still a lot of condensation. Also, apparently my idea of baking it with cling wrap at 200 degrees for a couple of hours is not advisable. Or, maybe next time I can air fry it without cling wrap at 200 degrees.
   4. Anyways, two days later… it should be pretty dry and snap like a chip when you bend it.
2. Prepare the soup
   1. Honestly, this was pretty simple because I didn’t do the meat part. So, wash the veggies: snap peas, cabbage, carrots, bokchoy, and mushrooms. I would suggest cutting up the cabbage before washing it to make it a bit easier.
   2. Cut everything up into around the same bite size. But, I would experiment with what shapes and sizes you prefer.
   3. Boil the chicken broth and water. Add a tad of sesame oil in for more flavor. Lau said that the oil should keep the veggies more green. But, mine still look wilted.
   4. Throw the carrots in for a few minutes.
   5. Turn off the heat and move the pot to a burner that is cool. Toss the rest of the veggies in. Cover it for a few minutes. Taste it to make sure everything is al dente.
3. Before the soup is done, make sure the oil for deep frying the rice crackers reached 375 degrees.
   1. Fry the pieces until lightly golden brown. Only 30-50 seconds is enough or it would get too crunchy.
   2. Place the pieces on top of a metal rack to drain. Make sure you have a plate or paper towel to catch the oil drippings.
4. Keep the soup and the cracker pieces separate. The cracker pieces shouldn’t be bigger than an inch. Serve immediately. Listen for the sizzle when you add the rice crackers to your bowl of soup. Enjoy!
5. I would suggest for the cracker pieces to be broken smaller and soaked for a little easier eating experience.

Result:

It was alright. I cooked the soup the day before so the veggies were overcooked after reheating. So, I cheated the original recipe’s instructions. Honestly, it was very disappointing to have overcooked veggies, since it seemed like such a simple dish. But, I’m not mad because I disregarded about a quarter of the instructions. I added shrimp the day after, which was a nice choice. I was happy that my sister and her housemate enjoyed the clearness of the broth because there isn’t cornstarch. So, I guess not cooking with that even when the recipe says so was a good choice. Like my boss says, “The Audience is your king or queen.”

I thought that I really had to keep the rice intact while frying it. But, I overfried it to golden brown. This was because when frying rice instead of batter, like I’m used to, it turns out you can actually have something too crunchy and hard to bite. I was trying to bite into a thicker piece and it was hard and felt a bit sharp. So, next time I would break the rice pieces into smaller bites and ask the diners to soak them a bit before eating. Plus, I could have heated the soup extra hot for more sizzle. But, the trade off is that it is Summer now and things don’t cool as quick and the kids enjoy food more lukewarm.

But, to my surprise, my nieces preferred to eat my veggie soup instead of the takeout. It was a surprise because I thought they would just drink the soup and not eat the veggies. I was very proud of them when they ate the whole bowl. Hopefully, one day they will learn to enjoy all sorts of veggies. Don’t worry nieces, it takes time. One day your tummy and bum bum will want to choose veggies over meat and carbs. And, Kau Fu (Uncle) just started enjoyed salad when he was three thousand years old. But, those are stories for other days.