Rice paper

Rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, like rice straw or rice flour. However, the term is also loosely used for paper made from or containing other plants, like hemp, bamboo or mulberry.

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Rice paper plant

In Europe, around the 1900s a paperlike substance was originally known as rice paper, due to the mistaken notion that it is made from rice. In fact, it consists of the pith of a small tree, Tetrapanax papyrifer , the rice paper plant.

The plant grows in the swampy forests of Taiwan, and is also cultivated as ornamental plant. In order to produce the paper, the boughs are boiled and freed from bark. The cylindrical core of pith is rolled on a hard flat surface against a knife, by which it is cut into thin sheets of a fine ivory-like texture.

Dyed in various colors, this rice paper is extensively used for the preparation of artificial flowers, while the white sheets are employed for watercolor drawings. Due to its texture this paper is not suited for writing.

Rice straw

Rice straw can be processed into simple paper, which is used as cigarette paper, for lampe shades or partition walls. Finer paper also can be made from it, especially together with other sorts of cellulose, like hemp.

Edible paper

Some sorts of rice paper are edible, e.g. paper from rice flour, and are used for wrapping up food.

This paper is also used for cooking, e.g. spring rolls. Here the paper is put into lukewarm water, and the water dripped off before proceeding. In many places edible rice paper is available packaged in Asian food stores.