Here's a twist that would confuse any craft store shopper: the delicate, translucent sheets sold as "rice paper" contain absolutely no rice whatsoever. Not a grain. Not even a little bit.

Rice paper is actually made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree, harvested by hand, boiled to soften, then washed and beaten into pulp. The resulting paper is prized by artists, calligraphers, and crafters for its strength and beautiful texture.

So Why Call It Rice Paper?

The term "rice paper" is a Western invention—a catch-all label casually slapped onto various Asian papers regardless of their actual composition. It's what linguists might call a colloquial categorical term, which is fancy speak for "we didn't really know what to call it, so we guessed."

The same mulberry paper goes by different names depending on where you are: Washi in Japan, Hanji in Korea, and Kozo paper in craft circles. But walk into a Western art supply store, and it's all just "rice paper."

The Edible Exception

To make things even more confusing, there is something called rice paper that actually contains rice—but it's completely different. The translucent wrappers used for Vietnamese spring rolls are made from rice flour, tapioca starch, and water. They're edible, delicate, and meant for your mouth, not your scrapbook.

That's right: craft rice paper has no rice, while spring roll wrappers do. The naming system makes perfect sense if you don't think about it too hard.

A Centuries-Old Mix-Up

While rice-derived pulps have occasionally been used in papermaking, most papers labeled "rice paper" in the West are pure mulberry fiber. The misnomer has stuck for so long that even manufacturers lean into it—you'll find "mulberry rice paper" sold side-by-side with actual descriptions of what it is.

The paper mulberry tree deserves better branding. Its bark produces some of the finest traditional papers in the world, used for everything from ancient manuscripts to modern decoupage. But thanks to a naming convention that's older than your grandparents, we're all still calling it by the wrong ingredient.

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