Making Crispy Rice At Home Is Easier Than You Think

Using up your leftover rice should have more options than just throwing it into a skillet and making fried rice. Now, this hack does technically include frying your rice, but this is completely unlike a regular bowl of soy-seasoned rice.

You may have seen crispy rice on the menu at your favorite sushi spot recently, which are pieces of cooked rice formed into a plank and fried in oil until crispy, and are often served with chopped spicy salmon or tuna on top. Well, the secret behind these sushi specialties is cooked leftover rice, which can easily be pressed into form while it is still hot and left to cool. The starches make the grains stick together in a way that the rice can then be sliced into pieces that will keep together in a pan of hot oil. The result is rice you can eat with your fingers; planks or fluffy, soft rice with crispy edges on all sides. A variety of toppings can go on top to completely transform your leftover rice into something luxurious.

Making crispy rice requires minimal effort, but it does take a little bit of forethought. This is because the rice needs to be formed when it is freshly cooked, and moldable when you first put it away. This works best with a storage container that is rectangular in shape so you can easily flatten the rice out into the shape of the container and keep it in the fridge until ready for use.

When you are ready to cook, take the newly formed brick of rice and slice it into planks. Get a skillet nice and hot with a bit of oil and place the rice pieces into the pan to cook. After a minute or two, the bottom will be golden brown and ready to flip to cook on the other side.

Crispy rice can be served in a number of ways. Some sushi-grade labeled salmon or tuna with Kewpie mayo and a squirt of sriracha will give you the same sushi restaurant experience for a fraction of the price. But you can make it simpler by making a gluten-free twist on avocado toast by topping the crispy rice with either mashed or sliced avocado and drizzling it with lime juice, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Add a sprinkle of sesame seeds for crunch. But in all honesty, if you mix up some spicy sriracha mayonnaise, you can easily finish them off on their own — just like eating steak cut fries.