Name: Crispy Rice Cakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6–8 small cakes
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1¼ cups (250 g) rice; ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) milk; ¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour; 1½ tbsp (20 g) sugar; ¾ tsp (2 g) instant yeast; black sesame seeds, as needed; crushed black sesame, as needed; brown sugar, as needed

Why You'll Love It

This crispy rice cake is my current breakfast happiness. Ten minutes of prep the night before, and five minutes the next morning gets you a hot one. Crisp outside, chewy inside, rich in dairy flavor, gentle on the stomach and easy to digest — the whole family from grandparents to kids loves them.

After fermenting, the slurry has a natural faint sourness, and the dairy aroma mixes with toasted sesame. Fried up, the outside is crisp and shattery while the inside is soft and chewy — one more layer of toasty flavor than a steamed rice cake. Really, really fragrant.

The slurry is fine and easy to digest, no burden on your stomach, with a light sourness from fermenting — mild and soothing. You can fill them however you like: red bean paste, roasted soybean flour, black sesame with brown sugar. Whatever you're in the mood for.

Ingredients

Ingredients
1¼ cups (250 g) rice	¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) milk
¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour	1½ tbsp (20 g) sugar
¾ tsp (2 g) instant yeast	black sesame seeds, as needed

Black Sesame & Brown Sugar Filling (optional)
crushed black sesame, as needed	brown sugar, as needed

Ingredient Notes

Use regular short-grain or fragrant rice, not pure glutinous rice — that's too sticky to hold its shape.
Soak the rice at least 4 hours; it's ready when a grain crushes between your fingers.
Blend it longer rather than shorter — the finer the slurry, the chewier the cake.
Pick a dark, loosely packed brown sugar; mixed with crushed sesame it smells wonderful.
Don't let the cold ferment run past 12 hours, or it turns sour.

Instructions

1

Soak the rice for at least 4 hours. I usually put it on to soak in the afternoon and blend it after dinner.
It's ready when a grain crushes between your fingers. Under-soaked rice gives a coarse slurry and a rough texture.
2

Drain the soaked rice, put it in a blender or food processor with the milk, and blend to a fine slurry.
The finer the better — any grit makes the texture uneven once fried.
3

Add the ¼ cup (30 g) flour, ¾ tsp (2 g) yeast, and 1½ tbsp (20 g) sugar to the slurry and stir well.
4

Cover and refrigerate overnight to ferment.
5

In the morning, take the fermented slurry out and stir it with chopsticks to deflate it back to its original volume.
6

Brush a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, pour in some slurry, and spread it into a round with the back of a spoon.
7

Sprinkle on black sesame seeds, or use the filling — blitzed black sesame mixed with brown sugar — scattered evenly over the top. Keep the heat at medium-low throughout; too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks.
8

Once the bottom is golden and set, fold it into a half-moon with a spatula and cook a little longer so the inside is done. Out of the pan when both sides are golden.
9

Straight out of the pan, the outside is crisp and toasty — it crackles when you bite — while the inside is soft and chewy, with milk and rice aromas and a faint fermented sourness. Better the more you chew.
10

The sesame aroma mixed with brown sugar sweetness makes it hard to stop while it's hot. Compared with a steamed rice cake, that crisp shell adds a whole extra layer.

Recipe Notes

Crispy Rice Cakes

soak rice until tender, blend it to a slurry, ferment overnight in the fridge, then pan-fry in the morning. Crisp outside, chewy inside, richly milky, with a toasted edge steamed rice cakes don't have.

Time Needed

Prepabout 30 minutes (blending and seasoning the slurry)

Cold fermentovernight

Pan-fryingabout 15 minutes

Totalabout 45 minutes

Not counting 4+ hours soaking the rice or the overnight ferment.

Prep Ahead

Soak the rice at least 4 hours — put it on in the afternoon and blend it after dinner.
The slurry can be covered and refrigerated to ferment overnight, ready to use the next morning.

【Yield】1¼ cups (250 g) rice makes 6–8 small cakes; scale the sesame and brown sugar filling to taste.
【Key ratios】Rice to milk ≈ 250:200, with ¼ cup (30 g) flour to help it hold together, ¾ tsp (2 g) yeast, and 1½ tbsp (20 g) sugar.
【Heat】Medium-low throughout; fry one side 2–3 minutes until golden before folding. Too hot and you get burnt outside, raw inside.
【Rising】Ferment the slurry in the fridge overnight (8–12 hours) and stir it back down in the morning; in a hurry, 1½–2 hours at room temperature also works.
【Storage & reheating】Best fresh from the pan; leftovers keep 1 day in the fridge and re-crisp in a pan over low heat.
【Common problems】Gritty slurry means the rice wasn't soaked enough (a grain should crush between your fingers). Cakes that won't hold shape mean too little flour or no rise.

Nutrition (per 100 g, estimated)

Calories	about 228 kcal
Protein	about 5 g
Fat	about 3.5 g
Carbohydrates	about 44 g
of which sugars	about 8 g
Fiber	about 0.8 g
Sodium	about 50 mg

Estimated from the ingredient amounts, not lab tested. One cake is about 2 oz (60 g), roughly 137 kcal, calculated at 4 / 9 / 4 kcal per g of protein / fat / carbs.