Puffed Rice Pizza Crackers

The concept of this recipe came to mind after trying “cơm cháy,” which is a type of Vietnamese rice cracker. It’s crispy and has the texture of rice puffs, just like the cereals.

This version is heavily adapted and flavored with tomato paste, dried herbs, and nutritional yeast and cut into bite-size pieces. It’s basically pizza in a cracker form!

🥣 How to Make It

These crackers are incredibly easy to make and require very minimal ingredients. It does require some patience, though, as the crackers first need to be dried in the oven before being fried. Here is what you will need to make these pizza crackers:

• Sticky rice – You must absolutely use sticky rice for this recipe. The crackers would not hold together well with another type of rice.
• Tomato paste – For a deep tomato flavor. Make sure you are using tomato paste, not tomato sauce.
• Nutritional yeast – Nutritional yeast brings a subtle cheese flavor to the crackers.
• Oregano and basil – Both of these herbs help give that specific “pizza flavor.” Use dried oregano and basil.
• Onion powder – For extra flavor and umami. You can also add a pinch of garlic powder!
• Sugar and salt – To balance the acidity of the tomato paste and for saltiness.

While this recipe may be uncommon, fear not, it’s super easy to make! Here is the process:

• Cook the rice. Rinse the sticky rice and add it to a saucepan with the water. Cook uncovered for 8-9 minutes, or until no more liquid remains and rice is tender.
• Combine with the seasonings. Once the rice is cooked, combine it with tomato paste, dried herbs, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, and sugar.
• Flatten into a thin layer. Transfer the cooked and seasoned rice to a sheet of parchment paper, top with another sheet of paper, and flatten using a rolling pin into a very thin layer.
• Dry in the oven. Dry the layer of rice for about 40 minutes. Next, use a pair of scissors to cut it into squares. Dry the squares for another 40 minutes or until hard.
• Fry. Finally, to make the rice puff up, fry the crackers in hot oil for about 10 seconds.
• Transfer to a kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil, and let cool for a few minutes before enjoying!

🧀 How to Enjoy It

These crackers are delicious as is, but things get even better when you dip them into homemade cashew cream cheese or caramelized shallots hummus!

You can also serve these with guacamole, black bean dip, or your favorite cheese sauce!

📔 Tips

• Make sure the oil is hot enough. The crackers should puff up almost as soon as you throw them in the oil.
• Do not fry for too long. As soon as the crackers have puffed, which should take about 10 seconds, remove from the oil. If you fry them for longer than that, they will take a bitter flavor.

💬 FAQ