Japanese Rice Candy

Sometimes there is nothing as perfect as a weekend to myself to cook and write and just be the true introvert that I am. Lately these weekends have been few and far between and I find myself with a "weekend cooking" to do list that may never get done. When I went to Disney World a small lifetime and season ago I bought some Japanese rice candy. I didn't really know what to expect except something foreign to me. They had all kinds of international snacks there at Epcot in the World Showcase part of the park. I bought the rice candy and some Italian chocolates. When I opened the rice candy I was surprised to see that it looked like caramel. I handed one to my brother and he began to unwrap it from the clear cellophane wrapper. He worked at it and worked at it and then said, "I can't get the wrapper off this one." I grabbed one and began to remove the wrapper and found that the outer wrapper came off easily but there was an inner wrapper I could not get off. It was then that it hit me, the inner wrapper was rice paper. So I put a small piece on my tongue and felt it dissolve. It was such an interesting texture going from papery and crunchy to chewy as it melted into the sweet center candy. The candy on the inside was really sweet and had a lemony taste and the texture of soft caramel.

Ever since then I have wanted to try and make those candies and they are a permanent fixture on my weekend to do list. I've bought some rice paper that I am going to try and use but I'm afraid it will be too thick and not dissolve like the rice paper on the candies. Either way I am sure it will be a fun way to waste away a day off...alone in the kitchen with nothing to think about beyond the stirring of a pot and the sound of a spoon settling in a dish.