rice paper

noun

1

: a thin papery material made from the pith of a small Asian tree or shrub (Tetrapanax papyriferum) of the ginseng family

also : a thin paper made from various usually Asian plants (such as the paper mulberry)

2

: a paper-thin sheet of dough made from rice flour and tapioca that is usually used to wrap a filling (as of minced vegetables or ground meat)

Ground pork, carrots, onions and cellophane noodles are wrapped so that the green vegetables show through the translucent white rice paper.

—Donna Hilts

Examples of rice paper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kenny’s Vietnamese rice paper pizza with egg, melon, basil, and Limburger cheese). —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2024

At her booth, Wendy Nakamura, a fine artist who has studied both Japanese and Chinese brush painting, was selling art on rice paper, as well as pendants and flat and folding fans adorned with flowers. —Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2024

Immerse one rice paper sheet in the water to just soften, about 5 seconds. —Lynda Balslev, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024

Slices of pork, shrimp, lettuce, mint, and vermicelli noodles are neatly wrapped up in a translucent rice paper before being dunked into a hoisin-peanut dip. —Christina Liao, Vogue, 8 July 2022

Word History

Etymology

from its resemblance to paper made from rice straw

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rice paper

noun

: a thin papery material made from the spongy inner part of the stem of an Asian shrub or small tree related to the ginseng