I know food lovers in Hong Kong who turn up their noses at sizzling rice dishes, saying they are for tourists.
There is something rather showy about them: in restaurants, it is tableside service, with the waiter presenting two platters – one with the rice cakes, the other with meat or seafood in a runny sauce. The saucy food is poured over the rice cakes to create steam and a loud sizzle that makes other diners look over to see what’s going on.
But the fact it is showy doesn’t mean it can’t be good. The rice cakes used for this dish shouldn’t be mistaken for the chewy ones made of pounded rice that are similar in texture to mochi. Sizzling rice cakes are light and crisp, and you can see each individual grain. While sizzling rice cakes are not difficult to make, they do take time (it involves completely drying out cooked rice that's been pressed into flat cakes, then frying them), I would recommend buying them. Search for them online, or look in the Chinese section of supermarkets.
Advice on the sizzle: there won’t be much of one if you use rice cakes are room temperature. If you heat them in the oven you will get a bit of a sizzle, and for a better sizzle deep-fry them, then pour the sauce over them while everything is hot.
But the secret to a big, dramatic sizzle doesn’t lie in the rice cakes: you get this from pouring the sauce onto a heated cast-iron plate. Be warned, though – it’s messy because the sauce will splatter when it hits the metal. I am satisfied with a more modest sizzle and less to clean up.
Doubanjiang – spicy bean sauce – varies in spiciness and saltiness according to the brand. If the one you have is very salty, use the smaller amount of soy sauce.
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