Hi, I’m Mariko, and I love savory, crunchy snacks. I like some sweets, but savory snacks will forever have my heart. So I’m always on the quest of making my favorite snacks as raw and vegan. This recipe is inspired by the Japanese chili rice crackers I grew up with. It’s called “Kakinotane” in Japanese, meaning persimmon seed, because this crescent shaped rice cracker looks like a persimmon seed. It often comes with peanuts but I couldn’t care less about them growing up, so I would just eat only the rice crackers and my mom used to yell at me!
They are spicy, savory, a little sweet, and so addicting! But sadly, the tasty snack I grew up with in Japan are:
1. Not vegan because of bonito extract
2. Contain monosodium glutamate, aka MSG.
That stuff is a deal breaker for me and I can no longer enjoy them. So as usual, I got in the kitchen and started my experiments. And as a result, this recipe was born, my raw vegan tamari chili flax crackers. It might be missing the distinctive rice cracker sweetness but it is pretty close and a tasty alternative! It has the notes of my childhood, but now it’s raw, vegan, and MSG free! Yippee!
So let’s get cracking! Gel the flaxseeds by soaking them in water. Let it sit for 30 mins to 1 hours to gel.
Add in the tamari, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, paprika, kelp powder, and salt. Mix until well incorporated.
Put the flaxseed mixture into a plastic bag like a ziplock bag. Cut off the tip of one corner to make it into a piping bag. Careful not to cut off too much! You want some control.
Lay down a silicone sheet over a mesh sheet on the dehydrator tray. Pipe out the flaxseeds into 1/4 inch wide by 1 inch long rice cracker shapes. This flax mixture is quite thick, so if some of your shapes turn out bad, you can push on the edges with a small spatula to help reshape it. If you don’t want to bother making them into little rice cracker shapes, skip putting the mixture into a bag and piping it out. Instead, you can just spread out the mixture on the tray then score it into cracker shapes, or break them up into small pieces when it’s dry.
Put the tray into the dehydrator at 115℉, and dry for about 12 hours. Then take the tray out and flip to dry the other side. To flip the tray, place a mesh sheet on top of the sheet with the crackers, then place another tray on top. Hold the 2 trays together on both sides with both hands, and flip them upside down. Take off the top tray and mesh sheet and carefully peel off the silicone sheet from the crackers. Put the tray back into the dehydrator and dry for another 12 – 24 hours until completely crisp.
If you don’t own a dehydrator, you can use the oven, but keep in mind this recipe works best with the dehydrator. It is because roasting the flax crackers brings out the nutty flavor of the flaxseeds, so it doesn’t quite taste the same with the dehydrated version and gets further from the chili rice cracker flavor I am going for. However, it’s still a very tasty soy sauce flax cracker!
Pre-heat the oven to 250℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe out the flaxseed mixture and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the surface gets baked and you can peel the cracker off. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and peel off and flip each cracker so that the bottom can now bake. Cook for about another 10-15 minutes. Check and taste test them to make sure they don’t get burned or get a burnt flavor. Take the baking sheet out and let it cool. The flax cracker will get hard and crisp as it cools off.
Tada! Little tamari chili flax crackers! Enjoy it Japanese style with a nice hot green tea, or just to munch on! You won’t be able to stop:)
- 1 cup golden flaxseeds
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons tamari
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust spiciness to taste)
- A pinch of kelp powder (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Gel the flaxseeds by soaking them in water for 30 min to 1 hour.
- Add
in the tamari, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, paprika, kelp powder, and salt. Mix until well incorporated. - Put the flaxseed mixture into a plastic bag like a ziplock bag. Cut off the tip of one corner to make it into a piping bag.
- Lay down a silicone sheet over a mesh sheet on a dehydrator tray. Pipe out the flaxseed mix into ¼ inch wide by
1 inch long rice cracker shapes. Use a small spatula to reshape if needed. You can also just spread the mixture on the tray and then score it into cracker shapes, or break them up into smaller pieces when it's dry. - Put the tray into the dehydrator at 115℉, and dry for about 12 hours.
- Take the tray out and flip it to dry the other side. To flip the tray, place a mesh sheet on top of the sheet with the crackers, then place another tray on top of that. Hold the 2 trays together on both sides with both hands, and flip the trays upside down. Remove the top tray, mesh sheet and carefully peel off the silicone sheet from the crackers. Put the tray back into the dehydrator and dry for another 12 - 24 hours until completely crisp.
- Pre-heat the oven to 250℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pipe out the flaxseed mixture and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the surface gets baked and you can peel the cracker off.
- Take the baking sheet out of the oven and peel off and flip each cracker so that the bottom can now bake.
- Cook for about another 10-15 minutes. Check and taste test them to make sure they don't get burned or get a burnt flavor.
- Take the baking sheet out and let it cool. The flax cracker will get hard and crisp as it cools off.
This recipe works best with the dehydrator. It is because roasting the flax crackers brings out the nutty flavor of the flaxseeds, so it doesn't quite taste the same with the dehydrated version and gets further from the chili rice cracker flavor I am going for. However, it will still make a very tasty soy sauce flax cracker, if you would like to try it with the oven.
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