Shrimp Rice Crackers (海老せんべい, Ebi Senbei)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Suribachi and surikogi (Japanese mortar and pestle), or a food processor
• •Steamer or bamboo seiro lined with parchment
• •Rolling pin, tortilla press, or senbei press (senbei-yaki-ki)
• •Baking sheets, parchment, and wire racks

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the shrimp

   Rinse the shrimp quickly under cold water and pat them very dry. If the shrimp are tiny and the shells are tender, keep the shells on for color and depth. If they are larger than your thumb, peel and devein them, because tough shells will not grind fine enough for a good cracker. Water left on the shrimp dilutes the dough, and tired shrimp will announce themselves here. If they smell strong, change the dish.

2. 2

   Grind the shrimp

   Put the shrimp, salt, and sugar in a suribachi, a Japanese mortar, and pound until the mixture turns sticky and mostly smooth. A food processor works if you pulse carefully and scrape often. Add the sake, usukuchi shōyu, and mirin, then grind again until no piece is larger than a sesame seed.

   The salt is not only seasoning. It helps the shrimp turn tacky, so it binds the rice flour instead of sitting in the dough as wet little bits.
3. 3

   Make the dough

   Whisk the jōshinko and katakuriko together in a bowl. If you are using peeled shrimp, mix in the ground dried sakura ebi now for shell color and aroma. Add the shrimp paste and 60ml of the cold water, then knead until the dough gathers like firm clay. Add the remaining water only a tablespoon at a time. The dough should be stiff and slightly tacky, not loose.

4. 4

   Rest the dough

   Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. This small pause lets the rice flour drink evenly, so the dough rolls without dry cracks later. A rushed dough makes you pay at the rolling pin, which is a tedious form of education.

5. 5

   Steam the dough

   Break the dough into six flat pieces and set them on parchment in a steamer or seiro. Steam over steady heat for about 18 minutes, until the pieces turn opaque and feel springy when pressed. This cooks the rice starch before baking. Skip it and the finished cracker tastes sandy, with a raw-flour edge that no amount of browning will rescue.

   Steaming changes rice flour from powder into a dough that can dry into a clean cracker. That is the quiet foundation of senbei.
6. 6

   Knead smooth

   While the dough is still hot, scrape it into a bowl and knead it with a wet spatula, or pound it lightly in the suribachi, until it becomes one smooth mass. Keep your hands damp if you handle it. Streaks become weak spots, so make the dough even now, while it is warm and willing.

7. 7

   Roll paper-thin

   Divide the dough into about 30 pieces, 10 to 12g each, and keep them covered. Roll each piece between sheets of parchment into a thin oval, about 1mm thick, thin enough that the edges look almost translucent. A tortilla press helps; a rolling pin does the same honest work. If the dough cracks, cover it and warm it briefly, then try again.

   Thickness is the enemy here. A thick cracker dries on the outside while the center stays damp, and the finished bite bends instead of snapping.
8. 8

   Dry the sheets

   Lay the rolled sheets, still on parchment, on baking sheets or racks. Dry them in a 90°C oven for 60 to 90 minutes, turning once and peeling away the parchment when they release easily. They are ready when they look matte, feel firm, and the center no longer feels cool to the touch.

   The drying is not decoration. A cool center means water is still trapped inside, and trapped water gives you a tough cracker.
9. 9

   Bake crisp

   Raise the oven to 170°C. Bake the dried crackers for 10 to 14 minutes, flipping once, until they are pale coral and ivory with lightly toasted edges and tiny bubbles across the surface. For flatter crackers, set a wire rack over them for the first half of baking. Cool one completely and test it. If it bends, return the batch to a 140°C oven for 5 to 8 minutes, then cool again.

10. 10

    Cool and store

    Cool the crackers completely on a rack before storing. Rice crackers finish crisping as their last moisture leaves, so judge them cold, not warm. Store in an airtight tin as soon as they are cool, because humidity is the enemy you cannot see.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for the smallest, sweetest shrimp the fishmonger would cook whole today. Sourcing first, always. The cracker is too plain to flatter tired shrimp.
• •A senbei press, or senbei-yaki-ki, gives the tidy shop shape. At home, a rolling pin, parchment, and two baking sheets get you what matters: thin dough, full drying, and a clean snap.
• •Dried sakura ebi is a sensible stand-in when you can only find peeled shrimp. It brings shell aroma and color, but don't pretend it is the same as small bay shrimp ground whole.
• •Season lightly. The shōyu is there to round the shrimp, not cover it. The best ebi senbei tastes more of shrimp than of salt.

Advance Preparation

• •The steamed dough can be wrapped and refrigerated overnight. Warm it gently until pliable before rolling, or it will crack at the edges.
• •Rolled crackers can dry overnight in a turned-off oven or a dehydrator, then be baked the next day.
• •Finished crackers keep about one week in an airtight tin. Re-crisp them in a 140°C oven for 5 to 8 minutes, then cool fully before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 8g)