Rice paper is made from the pulp of the rice plant. Rice paper has an unusual texture and is typically somewhat translucent. This is a traditional Asian paper popular for use in a variety of crafting projects.
Rice paper is readily available in crafting stores, actually classified as "faux" rice paper because it is made from mulberry leaf pulp.
Making your own faux rice paper can be an interesting project. Here is a method for making faux rice paper out of rice straw.
Rice straw is typically available at local farm stores and feed stores and is quite inexpensive.
Discard all parts of the stems except for the straight parts of the stem between the nodes. Cut the rice straw into 1-inch sections and remove any leaves.
Soak the rice straw in a bucket of cold water for at least one week, preferably 10 days. Monitor the color of the water in the bucket. When it turns brown, replace it with fresh water. This should be done several times during the soaking process.
Rinse the rice straw completely at the end of the soaking process.
Use 15 quarts of water and 26 ounces of wood ash for each pound of dry rice straw. Boil the wood ash for approximately 30 minutes and then allow it to sit undisturbed for 24 hours.
Wear thick rubber gloves to protect hands and wear clothing that covers arms and legs. This wood ash solution is very caustic.
After 24 hours, strain to remove the wood ash from the water. It is important not to allow the water to contain any wood ash particles. Line the strainer with cheese cloth if necessary to prevent wood ash from filtering through.
Cook the soaked rice straw in the wood ash water in a large stock pot.
Boil for at least three hours, but monitor the boiling process. The wood ash water will be breaking down the rice straw fibers as it boils. The rice straw has broken down sufficiently when it crumbles easily. Be careful not to overcook the rice straw because this will produce paper that is not strong.
After the boiling process, rinse the rice straw in clean, cold water.
Drain the cooked rice straw and spread it out on a tarp. Pound the rice straw with a baseball bat. Excessive force is not necessary. This process will loosen the rice straw fibers from the rest of the rice straw. When the rice straw fibers are spread out on the tarp, push the fibers back together and continue beating with the bat. Your goal is to beat the rice straw fibers into a fine pulp.
