I Tried the Popular Fried Rice Paper Flowers and They Are Pure Magic

I’m a longtime food editor, so it won’t surprise you to learn that I love cooking. What might be less obvious is that I’m also a very enthusiastic crafter. And when those two passions can be combined, I’m truly in my happy place. 

Knowing this about me, you can imagine my surprise and utter delight when I came across these beautiful Fried Rice Paper Flowers on @celineyrs’s Instagram page. I watched her video on repeat, witnessing the rice paper instantly blossom into delicate flowers. I promised myself I’d give them a try, but then I got busy, as one does. 

It seems the universe knew I needed these in my life though, because not long after, they popped up over on Omsom’s feed, and also racked up more than 3 million page views when Vivian Tiet made them over on TikTok.

This time I heeded the call, grabbed some rice papers, heated up the oil and got started. 

Get the recipe: Fried Rice Paper Flowers

The process here is pretty simple. Heat up several inches of oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Make sure you’re using an oil that can take the heat, like peanut oil or another vegetable oil. While the oil is heating up, cut out flower shapes from dried rice paper wrappers. For each blossom you’ll want one large flower and one smaller flower (you’ll stick them together in the next step). I had both 6-inch and 9-inch wrappers on hand and cut them down to create flowers that were roughly 4-inches and 7-inches. One note: Precision doesn’t matter all that much here, so don’t stress the dimensions too much!

Once you have the flower shapes cut out, stick one small flower on top of one large flower using leftover rice. Press another pinch of rice to the top of the smaller flower to create the center of your flower. For mine, I used jasmine rice mixed with a little oil and turmeric. The Omsom crew mixed one of their sauces with the rice, which I’m sure is a delicious option. 

When the oil is up to temperature (check it by dropping a small piece of rice paper in the oil; it should puff up immediately), carefully slide one flower into the oil. The oil will bubble up immediately as the flower puffs up, so stand back. Remove the flower from the oil with tongs and transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. 

In a word, WOW! After watching all of the videos I thought I was prepared for the magic of this recipe, but living it in real life is different. Watching the papery sheets puff up into beautiful flowers is such a pleasure. Each one I fried cooked into a different shape, much like real flowers. They were so beautiful that I considered not eating them, but I’m glad I did. They’re crispy and crunchy and have a nice salt level, which might be due to the brand of rice paper I used. Their light, airy texture reminded me a bit of Munchos, which were one of my favorite childhood snacks. The fresh-fried flowers were much better than anything out of a package, though, and so much prettier, too. 

I put one of the flowers on a cheese board, which instantly elevated it — and my husband and I ate the rest right off of the baking sheet. 

1. Test your oil. I learned the hard way that these won’t puff up if the oil isn’t at the right temperature. To be sure you don’t waste one of your flowers, drop a small scrap of rice paper into the oil to test it. When it’s ready, the rice paper will immediately puff.
2. Monitor your oil. You want the oil to be hot, but you don’t want it to smoke. As you’re cooking, adjust the heat to keep it at a steady temperature. 
3. Your cutting doesn’t have to be perfect. Although this is a crafty recipe, it’s also very forgiving. I tried this using classic flower shapes and circles with slits cut into them (similar to the Omsom method). Both methods created beautiful flowers.