Arare

Method

1. 1 Steam the glutinous rice for 25 minutes, then pound it with glutinous rice flour until it forms a smooth, pliable dough.
2. 2 Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 mm, then cut it into small 5 mm square pieces.
3. 3 Dry at 50 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes until the seeds are dry, hard, and completely separate.
4. 4 The nuts must be completely separated before baking; if they are still stuck together, they will bake into clumps instead of popping into small pieces.
5. 5 Bake at 190 degrees for 12 minutes, shaking the tray twice to ensure even puffing.
6. 6 Cook sugar with soy sauce to make syrup, then toss the seeds in three batches: one plain, one matcha, and one seaweed flakes with sesame.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 50 min

  Replace step 5: steam in a 180-degree air fryer for 8 minutes, shaking the basket every 3 minutes; the seeds are small, so a perforated tray liner must be used to prevent them from falling to the bottom.