Nori-Wrapped Rice Crackers (海苔巻きせんべい, Nori-maki Senbei)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Steamer lined with a damp cloth or perforated parchment
• •Suribachi and surikogi, or a sturdy bowl and wet wooden spoon
• •Rolling pin
• •Parchment paper
• •Wire racks
• •Pastry brush
• •Shichirin charcoal grill, or a conventional oven

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the tare

   Combine the shōyu, mirin, and sugar in a small pan. Warm it just until the sugar dissolves and the surface looks glossy, about one minute, then take it off the heat. This is a light tare, a brushing sauce. Boil it hard and it becomes too thick and salty for the rice.

   The tare should brush on in a thin coat. A heavy coat tastes clumsy and softens the cracker you worked to dry.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Put the jōshinko and salt in a bowl. Pour in the boiling water a little at a time, stirring with chopsticks or a wooden spoon until the flour gathers into damp crumbs. Cover for five minutes, then press it together. It should feel like warm clay, not batter. Add more hot water by the teaspoon only if dry flour remains.

   Hot water begins softening the rice starch. Start cold and the dough stays gritty, and that grittiness follows you all the way to the finished senbei.
3. 3

   Steam the dough

   Line a steamer with a damp cloth or perforated parchment. Break the dough into walnut-size pieces so the heat can reach the middle, then steam for 20 to 25 minutes. The pieces should look slightly translucent at the edges and have no dry white center when torn open.

   Steaming finishes gelatinizing the rice starch. That is what lets a plain rice dough dry, toast, and snap instead of crumble.
4. 4

   Pound it smooth

   While the dough is still hot, move it to a suribachi or a sturdy bowl. Pound and knead it with a damp surikogi or wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes, wetting the tool lightly whenever it sticks. Stop when the dough is smooth and cohesive, with no sandy patches.

   This is not ceremony. Pounding makes the texture even, so each cracker dries and crisps at the same pace.
5. 5

   Roll and cut

   Divide the dough in two and roll each piece between sheets of parchment to about 2mm thick. Cut into rounds, ovals, or rectangles, about 6cm across, and prick each one once or twice with a skewer. Keep the thickness even. A thick center stays chewy while the edges darken.

   The little pricks give trapped moisture a path out. Without them, some crackers puff wildly and some stay dense, which is a very small drama we don't need.
6. 6

   Dry overnight

   Set the cut crackers on wire racks and leave them uncovered at cool room temperature for 8 to 12 hours, turning once. They should be matte, firm, and dry to the touch, with no fingerprint left when pressed. In damp weather, dry them in a 95C oven for 60 to 90 minutes with the door slightly ajar, then cool completely.

   This is the step that decides the snap. If the rice goes to strong heat still wet inside, it turns tough before it turns crisp.
7. 7

   Toast the crackers

   Heat the oven to 190C. Bake the dried crackers on racks or a parchment-lined sheet for 8 minutes, flip, and bake 6 to 8 minutes more, until pale gold, blistered in spots, and crisp when tapped. For the old charcoal flavor, use a shichirin over gentle coals; for the home kitchen, the oven does the honest work.

   You are driving off the last moisture and setting the rice. Color is useful, but sound tells you more: a crisp senbei taps dry and hollow.
8. 8

   Brush with soy

   Lower the oven to 150C. Brush one side of each cracker lightly with the tare and bake for 2 minutes. Turn, brush the other side, and bake 2 to 3 minutes more, just until the surface is dry and glossy. Repeat once for a deeper soy color, but keep the coats thin.

   Thin coats season the rice and set quickly. Thick tare soaks in, softens the snap, and leaves too much salt on the tongue.
9. 9

   Wrap the nori

   While the senbei are still warm and the tare is just tacky, wrap a strip of yaki-nori around each cracker, shiny side out and rough side touching the glaze. Press the seam underneath for a few seconds. Return the wrapped crackers to the turned-off oven for 1 to 2 minutes, or set them on a rack while they finish crisping.

   Warm glaze is the glue, and the cracker's remaining warmth crisps the nori. Wait too long and the strip won't cling cleanly.
10. 10

    Cool and store

    Cool the senbei completely on a rack before storing. If they go into a tin while even faintly warm, the trapped moisture softens them. Store airtight once cool, and re-crisp in a 120C oven for 4 to 5 minutes if the weather has been damp.

Chef Tips

• •Use jōshinko, the flour of ordinary Japanese rice. Mochiko or shiratamako is made from glutinous rice and gives a chewy mochi-like cracker, which is pleasant in its place but not this dish.
• •Buy yaki-nori that smells clean and faintly sweet when the packet opens. New-season nori, shin-nori, is especially good in winter. If the sheet smells flat or papery, the cracker will tell on you.
• •Cut the nori strips only after the crackers are nearly ready. Nori drinks moisture from the air quickly, and a limp strip never grips as neatly as a crisp one.
• •Do not make the tare sweeter to force a shine. The shine comes from a thin coat drying on a crisp surface, not from turning the cracker into candy.
• •For a picnic, pack the senbei only when fully cool, with a piece of dry paper in the tin. A plain cracker like this carries best when you leave it alone.

Advance Preparation

• •The tare can be made up to one week ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before brushing so it spreads in a thin coat.
• •The crackers can be shaped and dried overnight, then toasted and wrapped the next day.
• •Finished senbei keep for about one week in an airtight tin. If they soften, re-crisp them briefly in a low oven and let them cool before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 14g)