Agemochi: Classic Japanese Fried Rice Cracker
As rice is the staple of the Japanese diet, rice crackers have also become one of the popular snacks in Japan, where there are 3 major types of rice crackers, that is, “Senbei (せんべい)”, “Okaki (おかき)”, and “Arare (あられ)”.
It seems that these traditional Japanese rice crackers are fairly well-known in many counties, but have you ever heard that in addition to them there is one more rice cracker that has long been loved in Japan?
Actually, the Japanese treat is called “Agemochi (揚餅)”, which I purchased this time for this blog article.
Age-Mochi (揚餅)
What I introduce here, “Age-Mochi (揚餅)” is a classic Japanese rice cracker made by deep-frying “Mochi (餅)” and typically brushed with a sweet soy-sauce-based sauce.
For the unfamiliar, Mochi is a plain white rice cake made of glutinous rice called “Mochi-Gome (餅米)”, and as you can guess from that, Age-Mochi is an old-fashioned, simple snack.
In fact, for cooking, when Japanese home cooks don’t use a package of Mochi rice cakes all at once, some like to make Agemochi with leftovers.
Although the texture differs depending on the temperature of the cooking oil, the frying time, and the thickness of Mochi, Agemochi is usually either crunchy or crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Basic Recipe
For people who want to try the classic Japanese fried rice cracker at home, lastly, let me introduce the basic recipe. As preparation for it, first, cut the rice cake Mochi into small bite-size pieces.
- Then, heat some vegetable oil in a pan to 180 degrees C (356 degrees F), and fry the chunks of Mochi until swollen
- Apply the seasoning mixture of a 1:1 ratio of sugar and soy sauce on the fried rice dough
- Ready to eat, Enjoy Agemochi!
