Let’s make fresh Kakimochi at home with this Japanese Rice Cracker recipe. Flavored with salt, soy sauce, or furikake seasoning, this crunchy and savory snack really hits the spot. Perfect to enjoy with a cup of hot green tea.
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
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Homemade Rice Crackers (Kakimochi)
Ingredients
- 4 Japanese rice cakes (mochi) (I use dried rectangular rice cakes called kirimochi)
- neutral oil
For the Seasoning Options
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (I used Himalayan Pink Salt)
- furikake (rice seasoning) (you can make homemade Japanese Rice Seasoning)
- soy sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Dry the Mochi (7–10 Days Before Frying)
- Use a knife to cut 4 Japanese rice cakes (mochi) into small pieces about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. If your mochi is dried and hard, cut it with the heel of your knife; wedge the knife edge into the mochi and use your non-dominant hand to push the blade down to cut through. Next, lay the mochi pieces in a single layer on a flat tray or wire rack. Here, I use a Japanese bamboo strainer called bonzaru.
- Air-dry them with good ventilation for at least one week. As mochi pieces dehydrate, they might break into smaller pieces, so try not to touch them. The mochi pieces will harden and look cracked and flaky on the surface,
- Another option: I haven‘t tried this method, but I‘ve read that you can bake the mochi pieces at 400ºF (200ºC) for 15 minutes instead of air-drying them. For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). You can lightly brush them with oil and season with salt (so the salt will stick to the mochi pieces).
To Fry the Rice Crackers
- In a frying pan (I use a cast iron skillet), add neutral oil to a depth of ¾ inch (2 cm). Turn the heat to medium and heat the oil to 340ºF (170ºC); I recommend an instant-read cooking thermometer to monitor the temperature. When it's hot enough, add just a few mochi pieces at first. If small bubbles start to appear around the mochi, then add more pieces in a single layer, leaving space between them so they can pop and expand. Do not overcrowd the skillet. Tip: If you‘re new to deep-frying, see my post How to Deep-Fry Food at Home for helpful tips.
- The mochi pieces will turn white and start to puff up. Turn over each piece and fry until puffed and lightly golden brown. Then, increase the heat so the oil is 350ºF (180ºC) and fry until the mochi pieces are golden brown.
- Remove the kakimochi from the oil and place on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels. While they are hot, season with Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Optionally, you can sprinkle them with furikake (rice seasoning) or brush soy sauce on top, reducing the amount of salt if you use soy sauce.
To Serve and Store
- Enjoy the Kakimochi immediately. It‘s best to consume them on the same day. Once cooled, you can also put them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for a few days.
I’m thinking of using my food dehydrator to dry out the mochi. Anyone else tried it?
Hi Amy, There are freeze-dried Mochi available, however, we’re not sure how the outcome will be after using a food dehydrator.
If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Love your recipes. Wonder if you have homemade recipe for Shirakiku Nori Maki Arare Rice Crackers With Seaweed Snack? I love this one!
Thanks
Linh
Hi Linh,
Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We currently don’t have the recipe on the site. But to make Nori Maki Arare, you may use this Rice Cracker recipe. After making Arare, dip the Arare in soy sauce (you can add little sugar too), then air dry for a little bit, and wrap it with Nori that uses for making sushi.
We hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am just hoping for some clarification on the notes. Does the 400F for 15 min replace the 1 week drying time, and then I still continue from step 4 to fry them? Or does the 400F for 15min replace the baking time and I still have to let air dry for 1 week? Thank you.
Hi Miena,
Thank you for trying this recipe!
You may use the Oven to make this Rice Cracker instead of 1 week of air-drying process and frying the mochi.
However, the texture and flavor will be a little different from fried Rice Cracker.😉
I love arare so much that I wouldn’t be able to make enough to satisfy my cravings.
Hi Helene!
We are so glad to hear you love Arare!
We hope you enjoy this recipe!😊
Hi Nami!
Can we dry the pieces in the fridge? I’m in Singapore and it’s hot and humid and I worry about the Mochi going off!🤔thx xx
Hi Marilyn! Hmm, you can dry it in the low-temperature oven, I think. I haven’t tried refrigerator but you don’t want the mochi to absorb all the smell either…
Hi. I have several questions. Our mochi is frozen. Do you have any tips to defrosting it? I leave it out and try to slice it but it comes out chunky. Afterwards, I dry it and then fry it. Any other suggestions?
Thank you,
Nikki Otera- Allred
Hi Nikki! It has to be thin to be able to make crunchy puffed up crackers. It might be harder to slice if it’s frozen already or thawed and slice if it crumbles up. The key is to make into thin slabs… 🙂
My mother use to make this with left over New Years mochi.
Hi Merle! Awww! You’re so lucky growing up with good homemade snack!
I was hoping to find the baked cracker (I think, it’s called “sombei”) It’s usually light but, I’ve had some that are not so light. -Am I searching for the wrong thing..?
I hope to make a healthy snack with brown rice. –Adapt a recipe.. If I’ve cooked the brown rice to a certain texture, can it be applied where “glutenous rice” is applied..?
My search on line turns up very little. (I think, I’ll have to search in Hiragana and translate the Japanese sites.) –But, the Google translator -SUCKS!-
Hi Matthew! Yes, it’s called Senbei 煎餅 or Osenbei お煎餅. I don’t have the recipe (yet), but maybe one day… it’s hard to make it like one from the Senbei store – they have a machine that flattens the rice and you can bake it until it puffs up. I need to see how I can do it at home….
Konnichi wa, Namiko sensei!
I just am so crazy of senbei, but they come so expensive in such small packets from far away, that I thougt since long of making them, but I didn’t know how. I found a recipe since, but it involved baking in the oven. And I don’t have an oven! 😢😢
I saw Japanese people on YouTube however, baking senbei on a grill over the fire. I guess I could get my hands on some sort of a grill, but I don’t know if that would work. I’d love some guidance from a sensei as to what to put into the dough and so on. And how it long would take… I hesitate to start before some expert gives her blessing… arigato gozaimasu
Ross from Belgium
Hi Ross! It might sound strange, but Japanese don’t really make senbei at home because it’s something we get easily at the store and much more work when you make it at home (and it stales fast). To make thin senbei, you rely on some machinery to flatten and cook on low heat for a long time etc. What I see online is to make senbei with Joshinko 上新粉 and water. Mix and steam it to cook and knead, then flatten it and let it dry for 3-5 days before baking/cooking over the frame. You brush on the senbei to apply soy sauce. It sounds easy but I think it’s a long process to make it. I wish I know it and hope to make it one day for fun… I just don’t have the recipe now… sorry, Ross!
Thank you, Namiko sensei! I am stubbornly going to try and make senbei myself, because I live a loooooong way from Japan (Belgium), and the little packets are far too expensive and too hard to get… and too small, haha, since it’s so delicious! 😁
I don’t own an oven and I am no fan of deep-frying. So I’ll try to get my hands on some Joshinko, do as you say and grill or bake them one way or an other. I have a small grill in the top of my microwave, I’ll try that first; maybe I’m lucky and that will suffice? I’ll make sure to dry it well first.
I’ll let you know if it works out…. It might be useful for someone else, who also doesn’t own an oven!
In the mean time, please keep teaching us to do Japanese cuisine and thank you very much
Hi Ross! Good luck and keep me posted! If I find a great method, I’ll definitely share!
if i air dry the mochi in room temp for a week.. wouldn’t it go bad?
Hi Sisca! It won’t as long as . you keep the moisture out. If you live in a humid environment… maybe possible it gets moldy? You’re supposed to put it where there is natural wind in and out.
Hi Nami!
I love your recipes. I am Sansei, so your recipes have taught me how to make authentic dishes, especially the Osechi Ryori recipes, thank you! A group of us are making mochi with a machine and I would like to make kakimochi. Would I just roll a piece out flat and cut into squares? Then should I dry them out before I fry them?
Hi Susan! Thank you so much for using my recipes! I’m happy to hear you enjoy them, and wow you made Osechi Ryori! Awesome! Kakimochi needs to be completely dried, so if you’re using fresh mochi, it’s kind of like a long process as it still has moisture when your mochi is fresh. So it has to be kept in air dry for quite some time… Hope I answered to your questions. 🙂
Another simple fast way to cook is putting the mochi, after its been dried, in a brown paper bag folding it closed and microwave for about 2 minutes 20 secs. depending on the size just taste and cook until completely crunchy inside just like making popcorn. For the lazy person haha. Haven’t tried it fried probably tastes better. Also to dry the mochi you can put the mochi in a plastic colander and put that into a laundry net and hang outside in the sun. I thought that was pretty clever. Anyways love your blog, as a Japanese American I’m glad I found a website with authentic dishes(have used sites not so) I can go through and try different dishes instead of making the same old standards so thank you.
Hi Pam! Thank you for all these wonderful notes and feedback you shared with us! First of all, thank you for reading my blog and kind and encouraging words. Really happy to hear you enjoy my blog. I love the laundry net idea. In Japan we love nature way to do things, and I can imagine my grandma’s house having food hanging around etc. Haha. Thanks for the “popcorn” method too! I’m still enjoying eating mochi, but when I get the leftover kirimochi, I’ll start making this popcorn method. 🙂 Thank you once again!