Miso-Brown-Butter Rice Cakes With Corn

Are rice cakes pasta? Absolutely not. Can they be treated like pasta? Most definitely yes! Rice cakes can go almost anywhere pasta lives. Cacio e pepe? In a spicy vodka sauce? With kale pesto? Check, check, check. They require nowhere near as much water as a pot of pasta and can be cooked directly in the sauce with a splash of liquid, as is done here after giving the rice cakes a quick crisp in an oiled skillet. Forgot to set the timer? Rice cakes are forgiving and remain chewy and bouncy even with a little extra cook time. Look for skinny sticks of fresh or frozen (thaw in cool water) rice cakes in vacuum-sealed bags. If you can only find coins of sliced rice cakes, those will work, too.