Sinasir recipe: All you need for this crisp-tender skillet cake is rice and a little time

By Yewande Komolafe, The New York Times

Fermentation, to me, is like a dance with my environment: at times loose and improvisational, but always measured and contained. What better way to cook is there than to rely on nature to alter an ingredient, at its own pace?

Broadly speaking, it is a process that transforms an ingredient, using elements — bacteria, yeast, microorganisms — present in the air. But I like to think of fermentation as capturing the essence of what is around me while I gently nudge things in the direction I desire.

In my work, I’m often drawn to recipes that feel delicate and thorough, an intricate approach to familiar ingredients or the extraction of flavors from them. I love immersing myself in what often can take hours, or even days, to achieve. When I’m fermenting an ingredient, I know the ultimate reward is a dish that tells the story of time in every bite.

Like many of us, I filled the early days of the pandemic with food projects. Jars lined my windowsill, some with ingredients at various stages of fermentation, a few with sprouting cuttings and others stuffed with vegetables ready for a canning project. It was in this time, with a teething toddler by my side, that I nursed a healthy obsession with learning how to make sinasir, a flat skillet cake made from a thin batter of fermented rice. A brilliant side from northern Nigeria, sinasir is used as a vehicle for soups, stews or grilled meat, or as a lovely snack drizzled with honey and eaten by itself.