The Japanese New Year celebration was over a few months ago. If you still have leftover rice cakes in your pantry or freezer and you’re not sure what to do with them, here’s a great solution. I’ll show you a quick and easy homemade rice cracker recipe. If you are an all-year-round mochi eater like me, don’t forget to check out my favorite mochi recipes at the end of this post!
Homemade Rice Cracker Recipe
Rice crackers are a common snack in Asia where rice is the key staple food. In Japan, there are two types of rice crackers: Senbei and Okaki.
Senbei vs. Okaki
Senbei (煎餅) or Osenbei (お煎餅) are rice crackers made of rice (うるち米). The origin of senbei is actually China. The Chinese rice crackers that were brought to Japan during Heian Period (789-1185) were made with flour (technically “flour crackers”). However, the Japanese loved rice so much that they started making crackers with rice instead. That’s how senbei started to become popular in Japan. Okaki (おかき) are rice crackers made of sweet rice/glutinous rice (もち米). We call smaller size okaki Arare (あられ). Just like senbei, okaki has been around since Heian Period. People didn’t want to toss the mochi used for New Year’s decoration (Kagami Mochi), so they scraped the mochi into smaller pieces with their hands, dried them, and deep-fried them to enjoy the leftover mochi. You might notice that I said, “scraped the mochi with my hands.” Why hands, you might ask? In Samurai’s house, using cutlery at the beginning of the new year was considered bad luck, so people used their hands to scrape the big mochi into smaller pieces, instead of using a knife.
Different Sizes, Shapes & Flavors for Rice Crackers
Rice crackers come in various sizes, shapes (squares, rectangular, round, ball), and flavors (usually savory but sometimes sweet). There are several ways to make them: you can bake, grill (traditionally over charcoal), or deep-fry.
Kakimochi (かき餅) – Japanese Rice Cracker Recipe
For today’s rice cracker recipe, we will use mochi (sweet rice/glutinous rice); therefore, this is a type of Okaki instead of Senbei. This particular Okaki is called Kakimochi (かき餅) in Japanese. The process to make Kakimochi at home is very easy. You just need to cut mochi into thin slices, air-dry them completely until the moisture is removed, then break into small pieces and deep-fry them. The dried mochi pieces will puff up like popcorn while deep-frying in oil. Immediately after frying, season Kakimochi with your favorite flavors: salt, soy sauce, Furikake, Shichimi Togarashi, or even curry powder! Although Kakimochi can be purchased easily at grocery stores in Japan, homemade ones are still the best! They are light and super crunchy. I like to enjoy them with green tea for my afternoon snack when I crave something savory. With their adorable shapes, I think these rice crackers make a fun snack for parties too. I hope you enjoy making this homemade rice cracker recipe. If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
Other Recipes Using Japanese Rice Cake
Zenzai (Oshiruko) How To Enjoy Mochi
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