What Are Rice sticks and How Can I Use Them?

If rice sticks have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 14 recipes to try them in.

Recipes using rice sticks

There are 14 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Hanoi Beef & Rice-Noodle Soup (Pho Bac)

Authentic Hanoi-style pho bo with slow-simmered oxtail and beef bone broth, star anise, charred ginger, rice noodles, and paper-thin sirloin. This traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup recipe takes 5 hours but rewards you with deeply aromatic, soul-warming bowls.

Chinese Spaghetti (Frud Bee Hoon)

Stir-fried rice noodles with marinated pork, crunchy vegetables, and scrambled eggs in savory oyster sauce. This Singapore-style bee hoon is ready in about an hour.

Cantonese Chicken Salad with Cashews

Cantonese-style chicken salad with hand-shredded roast chicken, crispy fried rice noodles, roasted cashews, cilantro, and a hot mustard-sesame dressing. Crunchy, savory, and full of Cantonese flavor.

Sour Soup with Rice Noodles

Chinese sour soup with shredded pork, dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and rice stick noodles in a clear chicken broth. Finished with white vinegar and sesame oil for a bright, fragrant bowl.

Prawn Laksa

Laksa gets a bad rap in Singapore because of the addition of coconut cream. However, coconut oil is actually a superfood, containing important compounds that enhance immunity and protect against digestive system disorders. In particular, coconuts are rich in lauric acid, which is known for being antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal, and boosts the immune system. Choose virgin coconut oil and coconut products that have no questionable ingredients added to them.

My Pad Thai

Homemade Pad Thai with chicken or pork, shrimp, rice noodles, and a tangy fish sauce with tomato paste and dried shrimp. Topped with crispy fried basil, peanuts, and bean sprouts.

Egg & Pork Pad Thai with Rice Sticks

Egg and pork pad thai: soaked rice sticks stir-fried with garlic, pork, and crispy egg in a sweet-salty-sour fish sauce, finished with bean sprouts, cilantro, and lime. Homemade Thai takeout in 30 minutes.

Melrose Avenue Spring Rolls

Crispy spring rolls filled with chorizo, Chinese mushrooms, rice sticks, cabbage, and bean sprouts in an oyster-sesame sauce. Double-fried for extra crunch and served wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Thai Noodles with Vegetable & Curry Sauce

Thai Noodles with Vegetable and Curry Sauce recipe

Mee Krob (Crisp-Fried Noodles)

Mee Krob: Thai crisp-fried rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty sauce with pork, chicken, or shrimp, topped with lacy fried egg nets. Crunchy, tangy, showstopping.

Rice Sticks with Vegetables

Crispy fried rice sticks tossed with stir-fried snow peas, bean sprouts, dried mushrooms, and a curry-chicken broth sauce. A crunchy, savory Asian noodle dish served with soy sauce.

Pancit Bijon Guisado (Sauteed Rice Sticks)

Pancit bihon guisado with chicken, pork, and shrimp sauteed with rice noodles, napa cabbage, and carrots in soy and fish sauce. A classic Filipino noodle dish for celebrations.

Red Pepper Pork & Noodles

Stir-fried pork with red pepper, snow peas, and rice noodles in a soy-lemongrass sauce. A quick Asian-inspired wok dinner with fresh orange slices stirred in at the end.

Pancit

Filipino pancit, a stir-fried noodle dish with rice sticks, shredded cabbage, carrots, and your choice of pork, chicken, or shrimp. Bright with soy sauce and a finishing squeeze of lemon.

All 14 recipes