I made a cup of rice in the rice cooker a few nights back and forgot about it. Overnight! As in, I didn't eat any of it and it wasn't until the next morning that I remembered I'd put rice in the cooker. I started the rice, then planned to cook up some veggies when I got back from running errands. I became so violently hangry, though, that I picked up take-out on my way home, reasoning that I could save the rice to make more of these black sesame and wild rice crackers. Then promptly settled in for the night, neglecting the rice.
Which meant I woke up to a sad cold bowl of day-old rice that soon became three-day-old rice when I refused to deal with it until about an hour ago. And no crackers.
In related news, I'm almost done writing my dissertation! Let's not count the chickens before they hatch, but here's to say the fermenting rice and my data analyses are directly proportional to one another. You'll know I'm not making progress when the house is spotless and the laundry's folded. Until then, the sitting rice, my sauce-splattered floors, and the clean clothing Mount Everest installation on my couch are simply symbols of my increased writing productivity.
The day after Alanna and I stayed up until 3am editing our video after a full-day of pasta-making, Phi popped over for a cracker fest - a weekend-long ode to our Alternative Flours Feastly meal collaboration back in February.
As someone who can find inspiration in any ingredient, taking Phi to the market can easily mean you're coming home with lettuce stems, even when you don't let her bring her wallet inside. And she'll turn it into a feast for three. A quirky combination of impulse and creativity ooze out of this girl. Even a spur-of-the-moment in-and-out trip for a bag of wild rice can send you home with a ginger root the size of her head.
This was also the request she had when I started the cracker recipe trials: "Crackers the size of my head, please." We spent the better part of the afternoon of our Feastly rolling out 60+ enormous crackers even though we only planned to serve one to each of our 14 guests as a delicate plate under a mizuna, pomelo, and quail egg salad. The rest were partly to account for any broken crackers, but mostly because we couldn't stop snacking them straight from the oven.
Phi took the spent miso brine from our misozuke daikon pickles and repurposed it as a dip appetizer, and the rest of the crackers disappeared in less time than they took to prepare. For our Sunday cracker fest, we tested the recipe using two different types of rice that produced two drastically different colored crackers. Blind taste-testers couldn't tell them apart though, so I say go with your heart.
This cracker takes inspiration from the senbei crackers we had in Japan, but with the white rice swapped out for wild rice, a bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds folded in, and rolled out paper-thin. The result is a delicately thin, ultra-crispy cracker that's just a little bit toasty. Or, as Alanna puts it, "deep fried angel wings."
That about sums it up. Whether rolled out the size of Phi's head or just the size of silver dollar, slathered with ginger miso dip or topped with cheese - I want to eat these thin crispy crackers as the only cracker for the rest of my life.
You can find the recipe for another dish from the meal - chestnut flour pasta ravioli here, plus more tales and photos of the day.
Black Sesame and Wild Rice Crackers {gluten-free}
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup cooked mixed wild rice (*See note)
- 1 cup (132 g) sweet rice flour (also called mochiko - different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour")
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
- ¼ cup water, plus more as needed
- 1½ tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 1½ tablespoons black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F with a pizza stone (or dark baking sheet) inside.
- Process the cooked wild rice in the bowl of a food processor or a blender until smooth. The rice will become a sticky mess - don't worry! Add the sweet rice flour, sesame oil, and salt, and process to combine.
- While processing, slowly add the water until it forms a dough. If it doesn't yet form a dough in the food processor, add ¼ teaspoon more water at a time until it forms a ball while spinning. The dough should form a glossy ball but should not be too sticky. If it is too sticky, just add a tiny bit more sweet rice flour.
- Remove the dough from the food processor and knead the sesame seeds into the dough.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
- For larger crackers, cut parchment paper into squares just larger than the desired size of the cracker (ours were about 4-inches by 4-inches).
- Grab about 1½ teaspoons of dough and gently press it between two pieces of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll it until it is super thin, about the thickness of 5 sheets of paper and about 4-5-inches in diameter. Peel off the top piece of parchment paper and set aside while you roll out more crackers. Repeat with the remaining dough. (Note, I roll out as many fit on my pizza stone - six - then get those baking while I roll out more to save time).
- Working in batches, place as many crackers that will fit with their parchment paper onto the heated pizza stone and bake for 4-6 minutes, until the crackers begin to get crispy and curl up at the edges.
- Use tongs to carefully pull each cracker from the pizza stone and set them on the counter to cool for a moment. Gently peel off the parchment paper from the crackers, and return them to the oven on the reverse side to cook for another 4-6 minutes, or until crispy. Remove crackers from the oven and let cool before eating. Repeat with remaining dough.
- You can also make small crackers using just a single sheet of parchment paper and a ¼ - ½ teaspoon of dough at a time. The process is the exact same, except they'll be only about 1½ -inches wide.
Notes
Tip for cooking the rice: To ensure proper cooking with the rice to liquid ratios, use at least 1 cup of dry rice. Every brand of wild rice requires a different amount of water, but here we prepared two different doughs:
Purple cracker - 1 cup whole grain black pearl heirloom rice and 1¾ cups water.
Light cracker - 1 cup mixed wild black rice and brown rice with 2 cups of water
You can even use all brown rice or even white rice if that's what you've got on hand. No matter what you use, you just want to make sure the rice is fully cooked. Save any remaining rice for lunch or dinner:)
Tips for rolling out crackers: Make sure your parchment paper doesn't crease or your crackers will end up with creases in them that might split when you pull the paper off. If you find the crackers get thin splits in them, just put the top parchment paper back on and rub over the split until it closes up.
Adapted from Viet World Kitchen
Tina @ Just Putzing Around the Kitchen -
These crackers look so crunchy and delicious!!! Gimme gimme :D
Sarah Menanix -
I think they'd arrive in crumbs, my dear!
Sheri -
Aren't these the prettiest little crackers I've ever seen! I can imagine these would be delicious with a variety of cheeses too! Yum!
Sarah Menanix -
Give me all of the cheese, please!
Dane H. -
First off, that is an enormous ginger root. Second, these look delicious, and I want to put that miso dip on everything.
Sarah Menanix -
You TOTALLY missed out on the dinner, my friend. But I'll make these crackers for you again sometime. Promise. If it'll lure you two over to the East Bay;)
Alana -
First of all, can I just say how jelly I am that you are all hanging and concocting, and rolling out head-sized crackers together! What a fun time and these crackers are seriously getting added to my list of things to make ASAP. Love love love everything about this post. x
Sarah Menanix -
Aw - thank you! You should definitely spend the day rolling out crackers soon! Also - I just found out that we're connected! My husband Lucas used to work at Incase with Moses (just before the move) and when I was telling him about your beautiful blog tonight, he stopped me, "wait what did you say her blog was called?!" It's a SMALL world. Come back and visit the Bay and we can make crackers the size of our heads and other wonderful things.
Annie -
These crackers look amazing! Especially the size!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan -
These are totally gorgeous! I would like to come over and make a batch of these with you, please and thank you!
Sarah Menanix -
Come visit any time and we'll make that happen! :)
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits -
I feel like you made these crackers just for me. I absolutely LOVE suuuuper thin crackers and the sesame seeds is just the perfect touch. What fun to use contrasting colors for the crackers! Can't wait to give these a try. I've totally pulled the I forgot there was rice in the rice cooker move before. It always turns into a fried rice session for me somehow.
Sarah Menanix -
Haha - I would have done that had I not left it there for three days (whoops!).
Julia -
Theese crackers are the best use for neglected rice I've ever seen! I've been meaning to make homemade crackers and these look like perfection in all their large glory! Huge congrats on almost being finished with your dissertation, girl! You should be so proud of yourself and I hope you celebrate with all the tasty eats and booze, because: duh. xoxox
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much!! I will eat all of the desserts to celebrate. All of them! :) xoxox.
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely -
Congrats on your dissertation almost being done! That is such exciting news! And I'm the same way, the busier I am, the messier my house and the more takeout we eat. Whoops! These crackers are amazing!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much, Natalie! So much take-out! It's terrible! Fortunately my mom swooped in with a week's worth of chili so I didn't have to resort to anything too terrible haha.
Christine // my natural kitchen -
These crackers (actually, you!) are so clever! I have a party coming up and I think these will be perfect. Also CONGRATULATIONS on being so close to finishing your dissertation. That's fantastic!! I am all too familiar with the tidy house: progress on thesis ratio. Happy for you that you are almost done!!
Sarah Menanix -
Yes! Aw - I hope you make them and love them! Thank you so much, my friend!
Tessa | Salted Plains -
Stunning, Sarah!! Love all of this. I'm so envious of your Feastly meal - what fun!
Sarah Menanix -
It's so inspiring to cook with other food bloggers as talented as Phi! You should definitely come visit so we can cook together sometime;)
Tessa | Salted Plains -
I would LOVE that! :)
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom -
Sarah, first of all, congrats on almost being done writing your dissertation! THAT IS HUGE!!! and oh my gawd, I LOVE these black sesame and wild rice crackers!!! so beautiful! you are a true artisan!
Sarah Menanix -
Yay! Thank you so much! <3
Maryanne @ the little epicurean -
Beautiful! Do these crackers ship well? ;)
Congrats on almost being done! There's nothing wrong with a messy house. To me, a messy house is a sign of a happy life...because I only clean when I'm sad/stressed/mad.
Sarah Menanix -
Hahaha - I bet they'd arrive in crumbles. Having now made crackers, I have no idea how cracker manufacturers keep them in one piece. Thank you so much! I'll be wary if I ever come to your house and it's clean then;) Ha.
Joy | The Joyful Foodie -
And there's that ginger root! Where is this market that sells ginger roots this big? I want to go there! The crackers look awesome, and I have all the ingredients for them on hand! I may just have to have a little cracker rolling party of my own. :P
Congrats on your dissertation being close to completion! That's a big deal!
Sarah Menanix -
Surprisingly it's not from a particularly SPECIAL market - it's from Andronicos! Have you been there? I totally picked it up joking with Phi, "this is what you need, right?" But she saw something magical in that ginger root! I'd love to hear if you end up making these crackers!
Also - thank you so much! Tea time?? :)
Joy | The Joyful Foodie -
Does tea come with ice cream? ;)
Alison @Food by Mars -
Seriously? These look absolutely ridiculous. And that does it, I need me some glutinous white rice now... this is the last straw!! Photos are on point, girl. WELL DONE! xo
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much Alison! I hope you try your hand at cracker making - they're just so addicting!
Jessica -
Gorgeous photos Sarah! Who knew rice crackers could be so moody and mysterious?! Love it! XXX
Pang @circahappy -
This post is SO WONDERFUL for so many reasons. Wow!!!! You guys are fantastic!!!
<3 <3 <3
Carla -
I demand crackers the size of my head. Demand!
I love how these crackers LOOK. And I love how accessible they are, I totally have rice all the time. I can make these and sprinkle them with lots of salt and pat myself on the back for using up ingredients. Go, me.
loree -
your crackers (and your entire site!) look so delicious, but i have a question.
i just cooked some village harvest heirloom whole grain chinese black rice in lieu of your recipe's lundberg heirloom black pearl rice.
the rice cooked thoroughly, but despite my efforts to dry it out, remained sticky.
i did go ahead with trepidation and attempt to grind it in my processor but to no avail! it remained a sticky mess and would not grind at all.
do you know if there is a major difference between your black pearl rice or the wild version such that this unfortunate result would not occur?
i will welcome any feedback you can provide. i hesitate to continue to cook rice batches not knowing if there will be continued grinding issues.
thank you! loree
Sarah Menanix -
Hi Loree! I'm so sorry my directions were unclear - when you cook the rice and food process it, it will be a sticky mess - this is right! No need to dry it out. This serves as the moisture for the dough. Then when you add the sweet rice flour and other ingredients, it turns into a sticky dough that you can roll out between sheets of parchment paper. I hope you didn't throw our your ground up whole grain chinese black rice because it will work perfectly! I'll update the recipe so no one else has this confusion in the future. Happy cracker making:)
loree -
sarah, you are a DOLL to keep so well in touch with your commenters!
after my "ordeal"-lol-i did begin to feel that the recipe was calling for some sort of soft or smooth (as you had said) dough, and i thot oops!
still mine would not "break up" or process enough to form that smooth dough. it remained very granular and loosely chunky and very sticky.
so, i then "baked" (don't laff) the remaining rice to dry it and attempted to grind it. i tried 3 different processors and the only one that even came close to breaking up the kernels was the coffee grinder.
so yes i threw the entire experiment out.
do i dare try this with the lundberg wild rice mix? i did love the contrast tho with the black rice.
so now i am curious about the sharpness of my large cuisinart blade and i am curious if that L. pearl rice would have done a better job.
if your recipe creations are any guide, i know you stay very busy!! and, i do appreciate your taking time to help solve my issue!
and, btw, we will be in CA in october, and i just want you to know i plan to sneak into one of your fabulous-sounding meals!! JUST kidding of course, but i am in envy!
again, thank you! loree
Sarah Menanix -
Aww - Such a bummer! I think the issue here is that the rice was actually too dried out. The rice needs to be pretty moist to get smooth - just how you'd want to eat it straight from the rice cooker/pot. :) Also if it doesn't get super smooth - try adding the sweet rice flour and see if adding more "stuff" to your food processor helps it grab onto it!
loree -
excellent suggestions for my next session...thank you again sarah!
Marjleggs -
Can I just use a cookie sheet instead of a pizza stone which I don’t have? I’m itching to make these crackers!
Sarah Menanix -
This is a good question! Yes - you totally can! I used baking sheets when I made them for our seated dinner, but your baking time may vary a tiny bit longer. I recommend using a dark baking sheet if you've got one.