How Is Rice Paper Made?
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Uses and Types
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Rice paper is commonly used to make traditional shoji screens, lampshades and room dividers. It is translucent but not transparent, and glows warmly when light shines through it. It has also been used in Japan and China for many centuries as a surface on which to paint, write or print. Rice paper is made in several different densities and varying textures depending on its intended use, but in general, this paper can be folded and crumpled and not be harmed. This is why there are many 100-year-old paintings on rice paper still in good condition. There is also a very fine rice paper that is edible and used for wrapping spring rolls in Asian cuisine. This edible rice paper is made with white rice flour, salt, water and tapioca flour. This mixture is pressed and dried into thin, round and translucent sheets, which are dipped in water to soften for rolling.
Retting
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Rice straw is what is used to make the rice paper that most are familiar with--the paper that adorns Japanese sliding doors, for example. The pith of the rice plant is used for this, but many so-called rice papers are mixed with the fibers from mulberry trees. These fibers are first collected by stripping them and cutting them into pieces to dry in the sun. The fibers are then soaked for several days, sometimes weeks, so that they soften and pull apart. This is called retting.
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Cooking, Pulping and Forming
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To further break apart the cellulose fibers of a plant, it must be cooked. Water and wood ash is a common substance in which to cook it. After it has been cooked, it is mashed with a mallet so that it essentially becomes a rice shake (though not one you'd want to drink). The pulp is then strained and molded--as with most handmade papers--with a wood mold and deckle. This is a rectangular wood frame with a screen on one side. The mold and deckle is dipped into a vat of the pulp so that a thin layer comes to rest on the screen when it is lifted out of the vat. The water drains through the screen and only moist pulp is left. The wet sheet is carefully transferred to a surface where the sheet can dry, usually with something of weight sitting on top of it to assure that it dries flat and even.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Naomi Judd
