Puffed rice
Puffed rice and popped 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. 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.
Commercial popped rice was developed by American inventor Alexander P. Anderson while he was ascertaining the water content of starch granules.
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 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.Traditional versions by region
East Asia
Puffed rice or other grains are occasionally found as street food in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, 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.China
The earliest mention of puffed rice in China is in Zhejiang Province, from a book by Fan Chengda written in the Song dynasty. It was part of the rituals of the Spring Festival and was made in large cooking pots known as fǔ which was heated with woodfire. Puffed rice, known as bào chǎo mǐ huā lou, is still a traditional street food in Shanghai where it is made by frying rice in oil and sugar.Japan
Traditional puffed rice cakes in Japanese cuisine are known as 'thunder cakes' or simply. In Edo Japan, the name okoshi was related to good luck, as the similar word okosu means to establish or set up. It is made by deep-frying sun-dried rice grains until they pop. It is then mixed with syrup, 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.Another type of Japanese puffed rice snack is, which are loose puffed rice grains. Its name literally means "carrot" because it is sold in a carrot-shaped cone.
Puffed rice is also used in, "brown rice tea", a traditional Japanese tea beverage consisting of green tea mixed with roasted puffed brown rice.
Korea
In Korea, puffed rice is known as twibap and is used to make yeot-gangjeong or to coat gangjeong.Korea also has a tea beverage made with puffed rice called hyeonmi-nokcha, which is made with green tea and roasted puffed brown rice.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, puffed rice is known as Bí-phang or pōng-bí-phang in Taiwanese and Mi-hsiang in Mandarin. This snack gained popularity during the postwar period, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, when mobile puffed rice vendors were common sights in Taiwanese neighbourhoods. These vendors would travel with portable puffing machines and prepare the snack on the spot, attracting children with the dramatic sound and the distinctive aroma of toasted rice.In recent years, Taiwan’s traditional puffed rice, which once found only in classic peanut-flavoured versions, has undergone a modern revival across the country. In Keelung, a once-struggling puffed rice shop has reinvented its product line by introducing over twenty new sweet and savoury flavours. These include coffee, cranberry, seafood, and sakura shrimp varieties, wrapped in innovative packaging that earned its place among Keelung’s top ten souvenir gifts—especially popular with wedding banquets.
Southeast Asia
Philippines
In Filipino cuisine, traditional puffed rice is known as ampaw or ampao. It is made with cooked white rice. 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, 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.Thailand
In Thai cuisine, a traditional popped rice snack is krayasaat. 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.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 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 includemurmura in Hindi,
pura in Punjabi,
mamra in Gujrati,
kurmura in Marathi,
charmbura in Konkani,
muri in Bangla,
mudhi in Odia,
muri in Assamese,
pori in Tamil,
pori in Malayalam,
mandakki in Kannada,
kurlari in Tulu,
borugulu in Telugu.
It is a staple food in Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
It has been made since ancient times using a technique called hot salt frying in which parboiled rice is puffed by preheated salt. 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. 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.
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.