Rice flour

Farine de riz

What it is

Non-glutinous and glutinous rice are milled into two flours that are not interchangeable — Japanese kitchens keep jōshinko and shiratamako in separate bins, and swapping one for the other turns a dumpling to glue or to sand. Having almost no protein to brown, plain rice flour comes out of hot oil pale and glassy rather than golden.

In the kitchen

Replace a quarter to a third of the wheat flour in a frying batter with it and keep the batter ice-cold: it holds less water, so the crust stays crisp long after an all-wheat one has gone soft. In a short pastry it needs a longer rest — the particles hydrate slowly and a dough rolled straight away will crack.

Goes with

Shrimp Coconut milk Pandan leaf Glutinous rice Egg Palm sugar

Same species

Akazu Arborio rice Rice paper (bánh tráng) Basmati rice Black glutinous rice Black rice

Also used with

Rice bran oil

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