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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
10 minutes
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Serves
4
Author Notes
Of all the techniques taught in culinary schools and beginner cookbooks, the one that irks me the most is the tomato concassé, in which you remove the skin, seeds, and juice—and along with them, much of the flavor, texture, and joy—of the tomato.
I’m much happier following Leah Chase, the late chef of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans for seven decades. In her cookbook And Still I Cook, she called for chopped ripe tomatoes, emphatically with seeds, as the base for a swift, vibrant sauce. It would brighten anything from fried eggs to creamy polenta to slow-roasted salmon, but in this recipe, the Queen of Creole Cuisine spooned the sauce onto pancakes plumped up with leftover rice from the fridge. The extra heft makes pancakes that feel like a full meal, and none of it lacks in joy.
A few tips: If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can swap in 1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt. Feel free to riff on the rice, even swapping in other leftover grains or beans, like in Kristen’s riff Rice & Chickpea Pancakes With Juicy Tomatoes, also on Food52. Just make sure to keep the volume roughly the same and note that a higher proportion of wetter ingredients, like beans or chickpeas, will make for less crispy, though no less delicious, pancakes. —Genius Recipes
Test Kitchen Notes
Excerpted from Simply Genius: Recipes for Beginners, Busy Cooks & Curious People (Ten Speed Press, September 27, 2022). —Food52
Ingredients
- For the rice pancakes:
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2
large eggs
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2 cups
(320 grams) cooked rice
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1/2 cup
(60 grams) self-rising flour
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1 1/2 teaspoons
fine sea salt
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1/2 teaspoon
ground white pepper
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1/2 cup
(120 milliliters) milk, preferably whole
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1/4 cup
(60 milliliters) neutral oil, such as canola
- For the sauce:
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1 tablespoon
unsalted butter
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8 ounces
(225 grams) thickly sliced ham, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
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2 cups
(360 grams) chopped ripe fresh tomatoes, with seeds
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4
scallions, sliced
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2
fresh jalapeño chiles, de-seeded and chopped
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1 teaspoon
fresh basil, roughly chopped
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1/2 teaspoon
garlic salt
Directions
- For the rice pancakes:
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In a small bowl, crack the eggs, then beat well with a fork. In a medium bowl, combine the rice, flour, salt, and pepper and stir well with a wooden spoon. Slowly pour in the eggs while continuing to stir, then add the milk and beat everything together well.
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Set a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat and pour in the oil. When the oil is hot enough that a drop of batter sizzles right away, use a large spoon or ¼ cup (60ml) measuring cup to scoop the batter into the pan, leaving about 3 inches (7.5cm) between each pancake. Cook until golden on one side, about 4 minutes, then use a wide spatula to flip each one and brown the other side, about 4 minutes. With the spatula, lift the pancakes to a platter.
- For the sauce:
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Carefully wipe out the skillet with a kitchen towel or paper towel, then set over medium-low heat to melt the butter. Add the ham and stir to coat. Turn up the heat to medium, add the tomatoes, scallions, and peppers, and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the basil and garlic salt, and cook until saucy and fragrant, 5 minutes more. Serve spooned over the rice pancakes.
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Leftover pancakes and sauce will keep well in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator for a few days. To crisp the pancakes, heat on a sheet pan under the broiler, flipping once (watch closely so they don’t burn). Heat the sauce in the microwave or in a small pot over medium heat on the stovetop, stirring occasionally.
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