Big Bro – Original Glutinous Rice Crusts
As a kid I remember the first time I discovered “wo ba” or crispy rice as it translates to English. I saw it on a menu where it was a seafood soup with crispy rice. Keep in mind that a lot of Chinese restaurants have dicey translations so I was equal parts confused and intrigued. I loved rice, and I loved crispy things so I wanted to try it. The only problem was that it was more expensive than anything else on the menu – it was at least 3 or 4 dollars more expensive than anything else. But it was a special night out and my parents were in a good mood and they let me go crazy and order it.
When the dish arrived at our table it was a big bowl of viscous, thick soup and a plate of crispy rice pieces, almost like a collection of rice crackers. I was instructed to pour the soup which was essentially a sauce, onto the piece of crispy rice. I still remember that crackling, popping sound it made as the hot soup coated the crispy rice, and the delightful contrast in textures.
Since then I’ve been on the lookout for it at restaurants, and I always wonder if it will be any good. There are some places that do it well, and some that don’t, but nothing beats that first time. It seems to have caught on in recent times enough that you can get pre-made ones at specialty Asian stores. But those are made specifically to pair with dishes for an actual meal, and that’s too much work. I also figured it would be too messy and cumbersome to make them at home too, so never got around to it. But lo and behold a company has gone and made it a thing, and I can’t help but give it a try to see if it comes close to what I’m hoping for.
To be clear, these are glutinous rice crusts, not the same as “wo ba” which is usually just normal rice. Glutinous rice is also known as sticky rice, and tends to have a different texture or feel when used in cooking. I’m curious how that translates when fried.
Each box has 8 individually packed squares. Each of said squares has three pieces of rice crust within them. Visually they do remind me a lot of what I had as a kid, with the exception that these seem a lot more densely packed. You can see the grains really smushed together here, and it’s different from the more airy, less solid looking one I had as a kid. While some of the pieces got damaged in transit, overall they feel structurally sound and would have a nice crunch and snap to them. They also appear to have a pretty decent thickness to them.
As far as flavour goes, these don’t have much of any. It’s not quite unsalted, but most of the flavour you’ll get here is of a deep fried sticky rice, which is to say not much. It’s a mostly neutral flavour and you would be pairing this with something to give it flavour. This really is mostly just for texture.
Texture is the main reason you would get this, and boy is it a good one. It’s both crispy and crunchy, and has exactly what you would want if you’re looking for a nice, thick substantial feeling rice cracker. These are solid enough to hold up for a little while with some toppings on top of it, or as part of a soup or sauce to replace rice or noodles. These are versatile for sure, but I like to eat them as is. These would go really well with a thick sauce of some, stew or chili, but even a soy sauce could pair well with this. If you’ve ever had rice chips or a really thick, solid rice cracker, these are kind of like that but they have the added bonus of each of the grains adding texture. It’s like a cross between a layer of crunchy rice fried and a rice crispy square, but with all the air taken out.
If it wasn’t clear, I have fallen hard for these. You can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to seek these out like a female lion in heat. There will be no prisoners, and no survivors. Only rice crusts.
