Crispy Rice

Instantly elevate your leftover rice with these fun crispy rice bites. Made with savory seasoned short-grain sushi rice, these crunchy rice cakes create a restaurant-style base for your favorite sushi toppings.

Course Appetizer, Appetizer & Sides, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Asian Fusion, Japanese

Keyword crispy fried rice, crispy rice, crispy rice recipe, crispy rice squares, crispy rice sushi, crunchy rice, fried rice cake, how to make crispy rice, nobu crispy rice, what is crispy rice

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Chill Time 3

Total Time 3 20

Servings servings

Calories 196kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

1 ½ cups dry sushi rice rinsed until water is clear
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Instructions

Prepare the rice. Thoroughly the rice 4-5 times until the water turns clear. Cook the rice and water in a rice cooker or on the stove.
Season the rice. In a small bowl, mix the salt, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil until the sugar has dissolved. Once the rice is cooked, toss the mixture with the cooked rice in a large bowl and toss until combined.
Shape and refrigerate the rice. Place your flavored rice into a small square baking tray lined with plastic wrap. Press and shape your rice into a 1/2-inch thick square block. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. You want to chill the rice so that it is slightly dried out and easy to cut into cubes.
Shape the rice. Once the rice is chilled, cut the rice into bite-sized rectangles. Pat to dry off any excess water condensation.
Pan-fry the rice. In a medium skillet, heat about 1/2-3/4 cup of vegetable oil (or enough to fill a thin layer on your skillet) on medium-high heat until hot for about 30 seconds. Gently, place the rice into the pan leaving about 2 inches in between each piece. Be careful the oil may splatter. Cook on medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and then flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack placed over a lined baking sheet to drain any excess oil.

Notes

Wash your rice! Washing your rice is always a vital step before cooking rice. Washing the rice removes the excess starch, dirt, dust, and debris from the rice grain. If you don’t wash your rice, the excess starch will gelatinize and make the grains become extra sticky and mushy.
Pack the rice. When molding the rice on your baking pan, make sure you gently pack in the rice as closely together without actually mashing the rice grains. You also don’t the rice to be too loose where you have large air bubbles that will make the rice fall apart when you fry it.
Chill the rice. You will need to chill the rice block in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours or preferably overnight. The longer you chill the rice the easier it is to slice into cubes, and it will become slightly drier which will cause less splatter when you fry the crispy rice.
Make sure the oil is hot before adding the rice. Test the readiness of the oil by dropping one grain of rice and if it rapidly sizzles, the oil is ready.
Keep an eye on the crispy fried rice. The oil temperature will fluctuate throughout the cooking process. If the rice browns too quickly, lower the heat so the rice does not burn.
Cool the rice on a wire rack for maximum crispiness. After the crispy rice is golden brown on both sides, place the crispy rice pieces over a wire rack to prevent them from getting soggy.
Storage Instructions: It is best to eat these crispy rice squares fresh. However, you can store any leftover crunchy rice pieces in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Nutrition