Puffed rice

Last updated November 07, 2024

Puffed rice and popped rice (or pop rice) are types of puffed grain made from rice commonly eaten in the traditional cuisines of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It has also been produced commercially in the West since 1904 and is popular in breakfast cereals and other snack foods.

Traditional methods to puff or pop rice include frying in oil or salt. Western commercial puffed rice is usually made by heating rice kernels under high pressure in the presence of steam, though the method of manufacture varies widely. They are either eaten as loose grains or made into puffed rice cakes.

Description

While the terms "puffed rice" and "popped rice" are used interchangeably, they are properly different processes. Puffed rice refers to pre-gelatinized rice grains (either by being parboiled, boiled, or soaked) that are puffed by the rapid expansion of steam upon cooking. Puffed rice retains the shape of the rice grain, but is much larger. Popped rice, on the other hand, refers to rice grains where the hull or the bran is intact. When cooked, the kernel explodes through the hard outer covering due to heating. Popped rice has an irregular shape similar to popcorn. There are various methods, both modern and traditional, for making puffed and popped rice.^[1]

Traditional versions by region

East Asia

Puffed rice or other grains are occasionally found as street food in China (called "mixiang" 米香), Taiwan (called "bí-phang" 米芳), Korea (called "ppeong twigi" 뻥튀기), and Japan (called "pon gashi" ポン菓子), where hawkers implement the puffing process using an integrated pushcart/puffer featuring a rotating steel pressure chamber heated over an open flame. The great booming sound produced by the release of pressure serves as advertising.

Mainland China

The earliest mention of puffed rice in Mainland China is in Zhejiang Province, from a book by Fan Chengda written in the Song dynasty (c. 1100). It was part of the rituals of the Spring Festival and was made in large cooking pots known as fǔ (釜) which was heated with woodfire. Puffed rice, known as bào chǎo mǐ huā lou (爆炒米花), is still a traditional street food in Shanghai where it is made by frying rice in oil and sugar.^[2]

Japan

Traditional puffed rice cakes in Japanese cuisine are known as kaminari-okoshi (雷粔籹) 'thunder cakes' or simply okoshi (おこし). In Edo Japan, the name okoshi was related to good luck, as the similar word okosu means to establish or set up.^[3] It is made by deep-frying sun-dried rice grains until they pop. It is then mixed with syrup (and other ingredients like peanuts or sesame seeds), pressed into trays, and dried. They are cut up into squarish or rectangular blocks before being sold. Traditional okoshi boxes feature images of Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder and lightning. Its earliest attestation was during the middle of the Edo period, when it was sold as a snack outside the Sensō-ji of Asakusa, Tokyo. Modern okoshi can use a variety of other ingredients and flavors and are usually factory-made.^[4]

Another type of Japanese puffed rice snack is ninjin (にんじん), which are loose puffed rice grains. Its name literally means "carrot" because it is sold in a carrot-shaped cone.^[5]

Puffed rice is also used in genmaicha (玄米茶), "brown rice tea", a traditional Japanese tea beverage consisting of green tea mixed with roasted puffed brown rice.^[6]

Taiwan

In Taiwan, puffed rice is known as Bí-phang or pōng-bí-phang (磅米芳, the word "pōng" is the sound of the explosion when the pressure furnace is opened) in Taiwanese and Mi-hsiang (米香) in Mandarin.

Korea

In Korea, puffed rice is known as twibap (튀밥) and is used to make yeot-gangjeong or to coat gangjeong .^[7]

Korea also has a tea beverage made with puffed rice called hyeonmi-nokcha (현미녹차, literally "brown rice green tea"), which is made with green tea and roasted puffed brown rice.

Southeast Asia

Philippines

In Filipino cuisine, traditional puffed rice is known as ampaw or ampao (a term which also became applied to popcorn). It is made with cooked white rice (usually leftovers). It is dried in the sun for around four hours. They are then fried in hot oil to make them puff up. The oil is drained thoroughly after frying. The sugar glazing is cooked separately using muscovado sugar or molasses (or corn syrup), salt, butter, and vinegar or calamansi juice. The glazing is poured onto the puffed rice and mixed until the grains are evenly coated. It is then allowed to cool and shaped into the desired form before it fully hardens. They are usually cut into square or rectangular blocks or molded into balls.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Thailand

In Thai cuisine, a traditional popped rice snack is krayasaat (กระยาสารท). It is associated with the Buddhist Saat festival, which is celebrated in autumn. It can be made with regular rice or glutinous rice. It is roasted directly in a dry pan like popcorn until it pops. It is mixed with caramelized palm sugar, coconut milk, peanuts, sesame seeds, and khao mao (pounded green rice).^[11]

Malaysia

In Iban cuisine, parched glutinous rice, which is known as rendai, is toasted in a hot wok or pan without adding oil in it until it "pops" or puffs much like how popcorn is made. It is traditionally served for the Miring ceremony, which is a ritual to appease the petara (gods) and spirits for prosperity, health and protection.

In Malay cuisine, traditional puffed rice is known as bepang pulut especially in Terengganu state. Glutinous rice is dried under sunlight and cooked with palm sugar. It is different from regular bepang which uses ground nuts instead of glutinous rice. Bepang pulut is famous as a gift from the host to guests at a wedding ceremony.

South Asia

Nepal

Puffed Rice is a popular snack in Nepal which is known as "Bhuja"-भुजा. It is used in a wide variety of recipes from simply eating it directly to making other dishes. Some people also refer to rice as bhuja which can be a little confusing.

India

In India, puffed rice is known as many regional names, which include murmura in Hindi (मुरमुरा), pura in Punjabi (ਪੁੜਾ), mamra in Gujrati (મમરા), kurmura in Marathi (कुरमुरा), charmbura in Konkani (चर्मबुरा), muri in Bangla (মুড়ি), mudhi in Odia (ମୁଢ଼ି), muri in Assamese (মুৰি), pori in Tamizh (போரி), pori in Malayalam (പൊരി), mandakki in Kannada (ಮಂಡಕ್ಕಿ), kurlari in Tulu (ಕುರ್ಲರಿ), borugulu in Telugu (బొరుగులు). It is a staple food in Odisha,West Bengal,Andhra Pradesh,Telangana. ^[12]

It has been made since ancient times using a technique called hot salt frying in which parboiled rice (i.e. steamed and then dried) is puffed by preheated salt.^[13] Salt is heated in a pan until it is hot enough to pop rice added to it within seconds. Parboiled or dried pre-cooked rice is added to the heated contents of the pan and stirred. Puffing starts almost immediately and completes in less than a minute and the rice is scooped out by a sieve.

Puffed rice is an ingredient of bhel puri, a popular Indian chaat (snack). It is offered to Hindu gods and goddesses in all pujas in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Pilgrims of Sabarimala often pack puffed rice in their travel pouch along with jaggery meant to be offered to Ayyappan. Pori has been mentioned in various Tamil texts as an offering to Hindu deities. Offerings of pori and jaggery made to Ganesha are mentioned in the Tiruppukal , a 15th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs, written by Tamil poet Arunagirinathar. In Gujarati cuisine it is called 'mamra' and is often used to make a dry snack by shallow frying in oil with spices or made into sweet balls using jaggery and ghee.

In Telangana, as a snack typically given to children, puffed rice or borugulu is made into a ball with jaggery sugar syrup or bellam pakam.

In Karnataka, puffed rice is mixed with carrots, tomatoes, spices and coriander leaves to make churumuri, a popular evening snack.

Under the initiative of Make in India, the Central Government of India decided that mudhi from Odisha would be part of Indian traditional food among 12 traditional dishes from different states that would be launched globally.^[14]^[12]

In Mithila and Bengal area, puffed rice is had with "kachari"-fried potato/onion chops, fried fish or with mutton curry. "Jhal-muri" and "Murhi-Bhuja" are also very popular snacks in this area. In Madhya Pradesh, this is referred to as Parmal and it is very often eaten with Sev as a snack and also used in Bhel. In some areas it is also known as laai and dishes made from it are called sweet laai, laai poha etc.

Bangladesh

Puffed Rice called Muri in Bengali is a popular snack in Bangladesh. Mostly used to make Jhalmuri, it is the most common and cheapest snack in Bangladesh. They use the same ancient method as India to prepare the puffed rice. This snack can be found anywhere in Bangladesh. In Old Dhaka, the jhalmuri -wala (Jhalmuri-seller) is still often seen dressed in colourful clothes, wearing anklet bells and calling out to the residents. Puffed rice is also mixed with jaggery and shaped into a rounded ball snack called murir moa.

Rest of the world

Czech Republic and Slovakia

In 1960s Czechoslovakia, state firm Vitana was the first to begin the production of 'expanded rice', as plain flavoured or sweetened snack.^[15] The product became popular under the names burizony (Czech : burisony) or arizonky. These continue to be produced to this day in Pardubice ^[16] or Sereď.^[17]

Modern commercial production

Puffed rice cereal

Puffed rice is formed by the reaction of both starch and moisture when heated within the shell of the grain. Unlike corn, rice kernels are naturally lacking in moisture and must first be conditioned with steam. Puffed rice can be created by heating the steam-conditioned kernels either with oil or in an oven. Rice puffed in this way is crisp, and known as "crisped rice". Oven-crisped rice is used to produce the Rice Krispies breakfast cereal as well as the crisped rice used in Lion Bars, Nestlé Crunch, Krackel, and similar chocolate bars.^[18] Though not as dramatic a change when compared to popcorn, the process and result are the same.^[18]

Another method of puffing rice is "gun puffing", where the grain is conditioned to the correct level of moisture and pressurized to around 200 psi (1,400 kPa). When the pressure is suddenly released, the pressure stored inside the kernel causes it to puff out. This method produces a puffed rice which is spongy in texture.^[18]

Rice can also be puffed by making a rice dough, and extruding small pellets which are then rapidly heated. The moisture in the dough flash boils and puffs the rice up. A cereal such as Cap'n Crunch is extruded, cooked, cut, pressurized, puffed and dried in a continuous process.^[18]

The method of modern industrial puffed rice production is attributed to American inventor Alexander P. Anderson, who stumbled across puffing while trying to ascertain the water content of a single granule of starch, introduced the first puffing machine at the World's Fair in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1904. His eight "guns" that puffed grains for Fair goers were dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World" by an advertising billboard poster. Once the puffing principle, technique and technology had been discovered by Anderson, the competition to puff ready-to-eat American breakfast cereal took over the economy of Battle Creek, Michigan, with Kellogg's and Quaker Oats being two memorable and still active names to endure through the early puffing frenzy.

In the United States and Europe, puffed rice is served with milk as a breakfast cereal, a popular brand of this is Rice Krispies. Some chocolate bars, such as the Nestlé Crunch, include puffed rice, and puffed rice cakes are sold as low-calorie snacks.

Puffed rice cakes

In the United States, a flat disk of puffed rice was sold as "rice cakes" by the company Chico-San in the 1970s. These rice cakes were marketed as low-calorie "saucers" meant to be eaten with toppings like cottage cheese, jelly, and fruit. Chico-San was eventually acquired by Heinz in 1984, at which time the Quaker Oats Company also developed their own rice cake marketed as a "low-carb alternative to bread". Rice cakes became a fad diet in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States. In 1993, Quaker Oats Company also acquired Chico-San, their biggest competitor, from Heinz. Rice cakes are also produced by other companies including Lundberg Family Farms, Hain Celestial Group, and Whole Foods Market.^[19]^[20]^[21]

These puffed rice cakes are typically sold plain or blandly-seasoned, with the most popular flavor being lightly salted. They are also sold in flavored versions, including caramel, chocolate, cinnamon toast. They are popularly disk-shaped, but can also be sold as squares.^[19]

In the Netherlands, disk-shaped puffed rice cakes are commonly sold in cylindrical packaging in supermarkets. Puffed rice cakes are also sold in a variety of different flavors within Sweden.

Related Research Articles

Hot sand frying and hot salt frying are cooking techniques used by street-side food vendors in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka. Hot salt frying is an old cooking technique, and is used in villages throughout Asia and other parts of the world. Many foods are fried with hot salt or sand, even in common households.

Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast East Asia, the northeastern regions of India and Bhutan which has opaque grains, very low amylose content, and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.

Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Kuih are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes, cookies, dumplings, pudding, biscuits, or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice. In China, where the term originates from, kueh or koé (粿) in the Min Nan languages refers to snacks which are typically made from rice but can occasionally be made from other grains such as wheat. The term kuih is widely used in Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, kueh is used in Singapore and Indonesia, kue is used in Indonesia only, all three refer to sweet or savoury desserts.

Puffed grains are grains that have been expanded ("puffed") through processing. They have been made for centuries with the simplest methods like popping popcorn. Modern puffed grains are often created using high temperature, pressure, or extrusion.

A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour, those made from ground rice, and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.

Kue is an Indonesian bite-sized snack or dessert food. Kue is a fairly broad term in Indonesian to describe a wide variety of snacks including cakes, cookies, fritters, pies, scones, and patisserie. Kue are made from a variety of ingredients in various forms; some are steamed, fried or baked. They are popular snacks in Indonesia, which has the largest variety of kue. Because of the countries' historical colonial ties, Koeé (kue) is also popular in the Netherlands.

A popcorn maker is a machine used to pop popcorn. Since ancient times, popcorn has been a popular snack food, produced through the explosive expansion of kernels of heated corn (maize). Commercial large-scale popcorn machines were invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century. Many types of small-scale home methods for popping corn also exist.

Rice flour is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening agent in recipes that are refrigerated or frozen since it inhibits liquid separation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sachima</span> Manchurian pastry

Sachima is a sweet snack in Chinese cuisine made of fluffy strands of fried batter bound together with a stiff sugar syrup. It originated in Manchuria and is now popular throughout China. Its decoration and flavor vary in different regional Chinese cuisines, but the appearance of all versions is essentially the same, somewhat similar to that of American Rice Krispies Treats.

Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.

Jolpan, or snacks, are often served at breakfast in the cuisine of Assam, although they may also be served at Bihu festivals or weddings. The word jolpan includes all the preparations namely jolpan, pitha, laru and tea. Other common items served for breakfast may include roti, luchi, ghugni and sometimes paratha etc. Jolpan are also found in Bengal. The word literally derives from "water and betel leaf" but can mean any snack.

Ampaw, ampao or arroz inflado, usually anglicized as pop rice or puffed rice, is a Filipino sweet puffed rice cake. It is traditionally made with sun-dried leftover cooked white rice that is fried and coated with syrup.

Puffcorn or corn puffs are puffed or extruded corn snacks made with corn meal, which can be baked or fried.

Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European traders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.

Pinipig is a flattened rice ingredient from the Philippines. It is made of immature grains of glutinous rice pounded until flat before being toasted. It is commonly used as toppings for various desserts in Filipino cuisine, but can also be eaten plain, made into cakes, or mixed with drinks and other dishes.

Cornick is a Filipino deep-fried crunchy puffed corn nut snack. It is most commonly garlic-flavored but can also come in a variety of other flavors. It is traditionally made with glutinous corn.

In the Burmese language, the term mont translates to "snack", and refers to a wide variety of prepared foods, ranging from sweet desserts to savory food items that may be cooked by steaming, baking, frying, deep-frying, or boiling. Foods made from wheat or rice flour are generally called mont, but the term may also refer to certain varieties of noodle dishes, such as mohinga. Burmese mont are typically eaten with tea during breakfast or afternoon tea time.

References

↑ Juliano, Bienvenido O. (1993). Rice in human nutrition. International Rice Research Institute, FAO.
↑ "Bào Chǎo Mǐ Huā – Puffed Rice – 爆炒米花". Movable Feasts. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
↑ "Okoshi, Osaka's confectionary". Kansai Odyssey. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
↑ "Okoshi". tasteatlas. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
↑ "Ninjin: Classic Puffed Rice Snack in Carrot-like Packaging". Tomo. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
↑ "Genmaicha at ocha.tv". Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
↑ "Twibap" 튀밥. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
↑ "Ampaw (Puffed Rice)". Mama's Guid Recipes. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
↑ "Filipino traditional snack: AMPAO (dried rice with sugar and lemon)". Sharsy. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
↑ "Puffed Rice (Ampaw)". Atbp.ph. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
↑ "Vegan Thai Kanom (Thai Desserts)". MessyVeganCook. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
1 2 "Mudhi to be a part of global 'Make in India' campaign | Bhubaneswar News - Times of India". The Times of India. 2 August 2015.
↑ Church, A. H. (1886). Food-Grains in India. Chapman and Hall. pp. 73-75.
↑ "Humble mudhi makes it big". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-07.
↑ Urc, Rudolf (2014). "Vzdialené roky, blízke témy" (PDF). film.sk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
↑ "Naše výrobky - KÁVOVINY". www.kavoviny.cz. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
↑ "B.M. Kávoviny | Ryžové burizony". kavoviny.sk. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
1 2 3 4 "What is a Rice Krispy? What is it made out of and how do they make it?". HowStuffWorks. June 2, 2000.
1 2 Houck, Brenna (17 September 2020). "The Rise and Fall of the Quaker Rice Cake, America's One-Time Favorite Health Snack". Eater. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
↑ "Quaker Buys Chico-San from Heinz to Puff Up Rice Cake Business". AP News. 19 May 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
↑ Varkonyi, Charlyne (19 June 1986). "Rice takes the cake when it comes to Low-Calorie, High-Fiber Eating". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

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[Juliano-1] Juliano, Bienvenido O. (1993). Rice in human nutrition. International Rice Research Institute, FAO.

[2] "Bào Chǎo Mǐ Huā – Puffed Rice – 爆炒米花". Movable Feasts. Retrieved 14 November 2020.

[Edo_Okoshi-3] "Okoshi, Osaka's confectionary". Kansai Odyssey. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2021.

[Okoshi-4] "Okoshi". tasteatlas. Retrieved 14 November 2020.

[Tomo-5] "Ninjin: Classic Puffed Rice Snack in Carrot-like Packaging". Tomo. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.

[6] "Genmaicha at ocha.tv". Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2020-11-14.

[SKLD-7] "Twibap" 튀밥. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.

[8] "Ampaw (Puffed Rice)". Mama's Guid Recipes. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

[9] "Filipino traditional snack: AMPAO (dried rice with sugar and lemon)". Sharsy. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

[10] "Puffed Rice (Ampaw)". Atbp.ph. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

[11] "Vegan Thai Kanom (Thai Desserts)". MessyVeganCook. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.

[:0-12] 1 2 "Mudhi to be a part of global 'Make in India' campaign | Bhubaneswar News - Times of India". The Times of India. 2 August 2015.

[Chur1886-13] Church, A. H. (1886). Food-Grains in India. Chapman and Hall. pp. 73-75.

[14] "Humble mudhi makes it big". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-07.

[15] Urc, Rudolf (2014). "Vzdialené roky, blízke témy" (PDF). film.sk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.

[16] "Naše výrobky - KÁVOVINY". www.kavoviny.cz. Retrieved 2021-08-21.

[17] "B.M. Kávoviny | Ryžové burizony". kavoviny.sk. Retrieved 2021-08-21.

[What_is_Rice_Krispy?-18] 1 2 3 4 "What is a Rice Krispy? What is it made out of and how do they make it?". HowStuffWorks. June 2, 2000.

[Houck-19] 1 2 Houck, Brenna (17 September 2020). "The Rise and Fall of the Quaker Rice Cake, America's One-Time Favorite Health Snack". Eater. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

[20] "Quaker Buys Chico-San from Heinz to Puff Up Rice Cake Business". AP News. 19 May 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

[Varkonyi-21] Varkonyi, Charlyne (19 June 1986). "Rice takes the cake when it comes to Low-Calorie, High-Fiber Eating". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

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