hhnngg1

I recently made a batch of Allen Lim's famed Rice Cake energy bars. The ones with rice, brown sugar, and BACON.

Used good, high quality bacon, the calrose rice he recommends, and did it all to the "T".

Ended up with a recipe that tasted exactly like rice + bacon + sugar + soy sauce and a few other ingredients, mixed together and squashed into rice balls. Pretty underwhelming. I didn't even want to eat a single of of them, and regretted wasting the bacon on the whole mix! Wasn't nasty, but wasn't good, either. And I really like fried rice.

Anyone else underwhelmed by these things?

cwk132

Could be one of those things that after riding for a few hours and maybe only having water, sweet sports drinks, and sweet gels/bars, something like that rice cake tastes a lot better than when you eat it in different circumstances. I never eat much on the bike since I seem to feel fine up to maybe 60-70 miles.

ericm979

The rice muffins out of the book are good.


My version of the rice cakes is more like sushi rice, with sugar and rice vingar and egg. They're tasty but crumble easier than the muffins, and are a bit more difficult to eat while riding.

Hezz

Based on my experience with cooking I would say that they would be very bland tasting the way they are made. I think they could be good with some spices and chopped garlic or ginger. Chopped cilantro might be really good in there to. I would experiment with the recipe until you find a blend that you like. I watched the video of them being made. I think they just came up with this to sell a cookbook. Then again they might want bland food for the riders during a race to keep the stomach calm.

Here's a suggestion to make the eggs better tasting and more healthy before adding them to the mix. Instead of frying the eggs. Cook them in a bowl in the microwave after mixing them with creme fresh or half and half and add allspice, basil, salt and pepper. They will puff up really big then fall back down when you take them out. They taste great. If you fry them use coconut or palm oil. Better to not fry though if you want to perform best on the bike.

hhnngg1

Pretty good recommendations there. Still, that's definitely NOT what Allen Lim is doing. He definitely doesn't have creme fraiche in there! (Although I'd vastly prefer your additions for sure!) I hear all these raves about how awesome his rice cakes were as he recommended, and they're just flat to me.

I will say they taste a bit better on the bike - I actually took one with me on a 56 miler a few weeks ago, and tried it out mid-ride. Unfortunately, I still didn't like it enough to finish it, and I ended up tossing it later. Fortunately I had brought my regular maltodextrin mix with me so all was good.

johnny99

You're not making dessert. You're making energy food that is easy to digest while you are exercising. Do they taste worse than Powerbars?

Silvercivic27

I think the book is a great concept, but I'm not a chef and I'm really busy and can't find the time to make a majority of stuff in the book. My wife won't make them either. I wish there was a book with healthy recipes like these for busy people who aren't gifted in the kitchen. I can barely find time to workout and ride as it is!

bigbadwullf

Underwhelmed? With rice cakes? Go figure...

ericm979

I'm no chef but nothing I've made from the book was difficult. I'm allergic to most sports bars and the rest taste like ass after some hours on the bike, so bike food that's more like real food is a welcome relief. I've made some of the post-ride recipes as well. They were good too. The rice muffins take about 35 min to make and 25 min of that is in the oven so you can do something else then.

The on the bike food is supposed to be a bit bland. After hours on the bike your taste changes. That's why commercial bars that taste ok an hour into the ride are disgusting after five hours. Usually they're much too sweet.

Of course you can add spices or make modifications to the recipes.

gregf83 

I love them! But I like rice and sushi and bacon and parmesan cheese so combining them all works well for me. I end up eating them for snacks.

GP

+1.

Jeez, I just shove stuff in my mouth and wash it down with water. As long as I don't puke, have stomach cramps or get the runs I'm good.

ultraman6970

Yeah you forgot the secret ingredient that comes from spain and italy.

Homebrew01

And it must be delivered at night by a guy on a motorcycle.

mpath

And in 30 minutes or less, or it's free.

Dilberto

I tried his "healthy" Fried Rice recipe and had to toss it ALL out.

NOTE TO SELF: A sports scientist is not necessarily a good cook.

Banzai

I use:

Sweet "mochi" rice.

A goodly amount of brown sugar and soy sauce.

Wrap them in spring roll wrappers to make them not so crumbly. Pretty good stuff.

renegaderider

I agree, I have been pretty unimpressed with the whole book...

hhnngg1

I agree actually, having read it now for a few weeks. I'm actually contemplating returning it. It's a beautiful book with great pics, but the recipes are quite uninspired. I made the banana-rice muffins last week and they were totally weak. I'd MUCH rather have a normal muffin (which is actually easier to make as well.)

PhatBoyG

I'll take homemade rice bars over anything in a foil pack any day of the week. I made them with sushi rice, egg, sausage, a small amount of cheese (not parm, barf), and maybe a touch of brown sugar to hold it together better. I also make them with diced apples, brown sugar, and walnuts for a sweeter bar.

How you prepare them can make all the difference, but honestly if you can't cook you're probably not going to enjoy it. And I only drink water or SDM/LemonLime on the bike, so my palette is not all flooded with nasty fake-flavor sport drinks.

rangerdavid

made those once and took them on a 55 mile ride. not impressed. I have a better recipe for what I call "power balls" made with dates, raisins, oats, etc. Much better.

laserfj

I made the rice cakes a few times, and they were great!

Would definitely recommend giving them a try. Something about that sweet and salty taste that is so good after you've been riding for a few hours.

bigbadwullf

Let me get this straight. Someone writes a book about cooking rice cakes and you guys say "Oh, I've gotta have me some of that"?
What were you thinking?
This world is in big trouble...

echotraveler

Id say you guys arn't very good cooks.
Ingredients vary/taste from place to place you have to experiment and tweek recipes to taste.Ive done a couple of his recipes and they turn out great and tasty. Dont be afraid to change the recipe to suit your local tastes and ingredients.

pdxtex

hhnngg1

No, but when all the reviews on the web rave about how incredible these things are and literally that you haven't lived before you've tried these things, expectations are understably high. These aren't some generic rice cakes we're talking here - these are plastered all over the web as the be-all-end-all of tasty bike treats, and even tasty treats in general. I'm one of the few folks who seem to be underwhelmed with them.