Arare, also known as Okaki, proves that snacks don't need unhealthy additives to taste amazing. Crunchy, tasty, and versatile, it's no wonder this is one of Japan's famous snacks.
These crackers are a hit at parties, especially when paired with alcohol. If you're looking for a healthy alternative to your usual late-night snacks, you've come to the right place. Got leftover rice cakes from your last mochi-making session? We have the perfect solution for you.
Making this homemade snack is fun and requires only a few ingredients. Unlike some homemade Japanese snack recipes that can be lengthy and tedious, we promise this one is quick and easy. So, without further ado, let's make this crunchy treat in the simplest way possible.
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What is Arare?
Arare are a small traditional Japanese rice cracker made from glutinous rice. Sometimes, it also includes okaki, which are tasty treats made from non-glutinous rice flour. These rice crackers are often flavoured with soy sauce, giving them a salty and crunchy taste that we enjoy.
Arare, resembling tiny hailstones, are sometimes called "snow pellets" in Japan. In Hawaii, they go by the name Kakimochi or Mochi crunch. We love eating this sweet and salty mix, especially as a trail mix paired with beer.
This vegan Japanese snack is not only delicious but also a part of Japanese culture. People often prepare arare during festivals. After New Year celebrations, it's common to use leftover mochi cakes to make these crunchy treats.
Arare Vs Okaki
The biggest difference between Arare and Okaki is the sizes of the rice crackers. Okaki crackers are usually bigger and chunkier. On the other hand, Arare crackers are cut into smaller pieces that are rounder or stick-like in shape. But regardless of the shapes and sizes, the rice crackers are generally called Arare in Kanto and Okaki in Kansai.
Apart from these distinctions, both of them are the same. Both recipes use glutinous rice flour with the same preparation method.
Arare (Okaki) Ingredients
For this Japanese cracker, we only need three main ingredients: glutinous rice flour, hot water, and your favorite seasoning. If you're going to deep-fry the crackers, you'll also need some cooking oil.
You can opt for premade mochi rice cakes, which you can find easily at most Asian supermarkets. However, making arare from scratch with glutinous flour is a healthier choice.
You can also customise the flavours by mixing your chosen seasoning with the flour. For example, we suggest adding wasabi or curry powder for a spicier kick. But for this recipe, we'll stick with traditional arare, seasoned with soy sauce.
How To Make Arare
The process of making glutinous rice crackers only involves four main steps.
Firstly, you will have to make the dough using glutinous rice flour, hot water, and your preferred seasoning. Afterwards, you will have to slice the kneaded dough into thin and tiny pieces.
If the rice cakes are too big, they will become Okaki.
The next step is to dry the pieces in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the crackers are adequately dried, the final step is to fry and enjoy them.
How To Make Okaki
As mentioned earlier, the process of making Arare and Okaki is the same. Making Okaki also involves making the dough, drying the rice cakes, and frying them.
However, Okaki is slightly bigger in size. So, you would typically cut the dough into bite-sized blocks or squares. If the pieces are too small, you'd be making Arare instead.
Arare (Okaki) Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g glutinous rice flour
- 120 ml hot water
- cooking oil for frying
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- black sesame seeds
- Yukari (optional)
Cooking Instructions
- Firstly, start preparing the dough. Pour the rice flour into a heat-proof container. Then, add hot water and mix with a silicone spatula until it becomes a sticky mixture. If you want to add any seasonings, add them now. Mix until well combined. Add another 10ml of hot water if the mixture does not hold together.
- Then, cover the bowl with cling film and heat the mixture in a microwave at 600 W for 1 minutes. Take the mixture out of the microwave and knead it lightly. Cover the bowl with cling film again, and return the mixture to the microwave to cook for another 1 minute at 600 W. If the mixture is still not fully cooked, repeat the microwave step but only cook it in 30-second increments.
- Once the dough is fully cooked, place the dough on a tray and spread it thinly with a rolling pin. Prepare the cracker pieces by cutting them into small rectangular pieces. Lay the arare pieces on a flat tray and bake them in an oven at 150°C for 15 minutes.
- Add about 2 cm of cooking oil into a skillet or pot and heat it to 170°C. Then, add the rice cakes and fry them for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Take out the rice cakes from the oil and place them on a wire rack. Brush some soy sauce over the rice cakes. Then, sprinkle a pinch of salt over them for extra seasoning.
- Serve and enjoy or keep the Arare in an airtight container for later.
Recipe Notes
- Cut the crackers into bigger bite-sized blocks to make Okaki.
- You can use other seasonings to add flavours, such as curry powder, shrimp paste, or Yukari.
- You can replace salt with sugar to make the snack sweeter.
- You can use the traditional way of sun drying the rice cakes with good ventilation for a week. However, this method will take longer for the snack to be prepared.
- After frying, you can place the rice cakes on a plate lined with paper towels instead of a wire rack.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Cooking Tips
Use The Right Tools
We recommend using the right tools when kneading the glutinous rice flour, as it can be challenging. A silicone spatula might work in mixing the flour with other ingredients for flavouring.
However, it is best to use a silicone scraper with a core or one made only of silicone to knead the rice flour. We also recommend using a heat-resistant round-bottomed bowl for an easier mixing process.
How To Dry The Rice Cakes
It is essential that you leave the rice cakes to dry before frying them. If the rice cakes are not dry enough, they will not puff up when you fry them.
Drying them will also minimise splashes from the cooking oil when frying. But most importantly, drying will make the Japanese crackers crispy and crunchy.
However, the rice cakes will easily crack if dried too quickly. To ensure the arare are dried properly, you can pop them in the oven and baking them at 150°C (or 300°F) in 15-20 mins.
Making the rice cake slices thin will help make the drying process easier. Thinner pieces are easier to dry and are less likely to break. Thus, each rice cake should be 1-3 millimetres thick and laid on a flat tray in a single layer.
Alternatively, you can bake the rice cakes in an oven as a quick yet safe way to dry them. Simply place the crackers on a flat tray and bake for 15 minutes at 200°C. If you use a convection oven, bake them for 15 minutes at 15°C.
Deep-Frying Arare
Make sure to leave some space between the rice cakes when frying them. This added space will allow them to puff up.
You can cook these Japanese rice crackers with the traditional deep-frying method. Using this method, you will have to preheat the oil to 170°C in a skillet. Then, put in the sliced rice cake pieces and deep-fry for around 5 minutes until they puff up.
You can dip the dough in soy sauce before frying or brush some of it over the crackers afterwards. To make it saltier, sprinkle salt over it immediately after deep frying.
Air Fryer Okaki Method
Alternatively, if you use an air fryer, you can save more time and energy than frying crackers. Just place the crackers in the air fryer, ensuring space for them to puff up. Then, spray a little bit of spray oil over them.
Set your air fryer to 180°C and fry the crackers for about 10 minutes or until they puff up. Open up the basket every now and then to flip them over so that you can evenly cook each cracker.
Once they are fried, brush them with some soy sauce and let them cool. This method will make the crackers less oily due to less oil usage. So, you can use this method to prepare the snack more healthily.
Common Flavours
There are numerous flavours available for this Japanese rice cracker snack, from plain to unique, such as chocolate matcha. However, these are the common ones which you can easily find and include in your Japanese snack box collection at home.
Sesame Flavour
This variation gives off a mildly sweet and nutty taste. The sesame seeds also provide extra crunch to the snack. To make this flavour on your own, simply add a tablespoon of sesame seeds to the dough.
Shrimp Flavour
The shrimp-flavoured glutinous cracker leans more towards the savoury side with a slightly sweet and salty taste. To give an idea of its taste, it is like eating shrimp-flavoured Cheetos. You can make this cracker by adding a few teaspoons of shrimp powder or paste to the dough.
Curry Flavour
Curry is also one of the popular seasonings for this Asian snack. You can upgrade the plain version by adding curry powder to the dough. This variation adds some pleasant spice to the treat. However, it is not too spicy and makes a good treat for children as well.
Shiso Flavour
Shiso-flavoured rice crackers are made with Yukari, a shiso rice seasoning. These crackers have a distinct salty and slightly tangy taste. Shiso crackers are typically reddish due to the natural colour of shiso leaves.
Hina Arare
This type of Arare is usually a mix of sugar-coated rice crackers and a different kind of cracker that is seasoned with soy sauce. They provide a pleasant blend of sweet and salty flavours when eaten together.
You will find that many Japanese people make these bright and colourful crackers in honour of Hinamatsuri or Doll's Day. Sakura mochi is another popular treat made for this Japanese festival.
Norimaki Arare
This variation consists of crackers wrapped in small pieces of dried and roasted nori seaweed. So, the rice crackers are savoury and salty. You can find variations of Norimaki crackers that have wasabi flavours to make them spicy or Umeboshi plums to add sourness to them.
Kaki No Tane Arare
Also known as 'Kaki-pi', the snack consists of crescent-shaped crackers and peanuts. It is pretty spicy with flavours such as wasabi and pepper. You can typically enjoy these Japanese snacks with alcohol.
Bubu Arare
For this variation, you would shape these crackers into tiny balls or pearls and season them with soy sauce. You can use them as a traditional garnish for Ochazuke, which is a traditional dish that soaks rice in green tea. However, the pearls also make a light, crunchy snack that you can have just by themselves.
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