Rice Crackers & Rice Cakes
Making your own rice crackers isn’t as hard as you might think! There are many types of rice crackers, but the basic idea is the same regardless of what kind you make: Start with cooked rice, then you shape it, dry it, and puff it in high heat. In this video I show you 2 examples of this process, one that is thin and crispy like “rice crackers,” and the other one thicker and puffier more like “rice cakes.”
Their neutral flavour means you can then use it for whatever dip you like, it’s a great gluten-free option to go with your favourite dips.
INGREDIENTS
For Rice Crackers:
3/4 cup uncooked jasmine rice (makes 1 tray, size as seen in the video)
For Rice Cakes:
Cooked sticky rice, as much as you want
For Black Rice Crackers:
1/4 cup black sticky rice, uncooked
1/2 cup jasmine rice, uncooked
INSTRUCTIONS
For Rice Crackers:
Cook the rice: Cook the jasmine rice with 1 1/2 cup water (about 50% more water than when making plain rice). After the rice has been cooked, make sure it is quite soft and sticks to each other easily. If not, you can add a bit more water and cook it a bit longer.
Shape the rice: Let the rice cool until warm (do not refrigerate or the rice will lost its stickiness). Plop the rice onto a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap, you’ll need 2 sheets of plastic wrap to make sure the entire surface is covered. With a rolling pin, roll the rice out into a rectangular shape into a thin sheet. The exact thickness is up to you but I like mine no more than 2 mm thick. Using a WET bench scraper (or a thin ruler) or cookie cutters, mark the desired shapes of the rice crackers.
Dry the rice: Let the rice dry for about 2-3 hours to let them firm up a bit, then flip them onto a rack so they will dry faster, then let them dry completely. You can check whether they have dried completely by trying to bend the rice crackers—they should not bend at all. You can dry the rice by placing the tray in front of a fan or leaving it out in a strong sun (not recommended if there are critters in the neighbourhood that might want to feast on the rice!). It would take at least 1 whole day to dry completely. In a rush, you can also bake it in a 200°F oven for several hours, but I don’t recommend this method as it is very power intensive to have the oven on for many hours. You can store the dry rice crackers in an air-tight container indefinitely.
Puff the rice: When ready to serve, fry the rice crackers in a 400°F (200°C) oil until they puff and bloom open (this takes seconds!). Alternately, you can broil them under a very hot, pre-heated broiler, also for a few seconds, but this only works if you make very thin rice crackers like mine in the video, and watch them carefully cuz they burn quickly!
For Rice Cakes:
With wet fingers, press a small ball of sticky rice into a ring mold or whatever cookie cutter shape you like. Make the rice as thin as you can without creating big holes in the rice cakes. Let dry completely then fry them as per instructions above. (These will take less time to dry than the rice crackers.) Note: I have not tried to broil these, so let me know how it goes if you try it!
For Black Rice Crackers
Boil black sticky rice in plenty of water for about 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked and is no longer crunchy. Drain.
Mix the jasmine rice with the drained black sticky rice and cook it in a rice cooker (or pot) with 1 cup of water. Follow the “shape”, “dry”, and “puff” instructions above.
