Puffed rice

Puffed rice or other grains are occasionally found as street food in China, 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.

Puffed rice cakes in China

The earliest mention of puffed rice in China is in Zhejiang Province, from a book by Fan Chengda written in the Song Dynasty (c. 1100). It is 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]

Various types of kaminari-okoshi from Japan

Traditional puffed rice cakes in Japanese cuisine are known as kaminari-okoshi or simply okoshi (おこし) from kaminari ("thunder") and okosu ("to establish a family name"). 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, where 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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

Gangjeong from South Korea coated with puffed rice

In Korea, puffed rice is known as twibap (튀밥) and is used to make yeot-gangjeong or to coat gangjeong.[6]

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

Ampaw from the 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 unto 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.[7][8][9]

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 they pop. It is mixed with caramelized palm sugar, coconut milk, peanuts, sesame seeds, and khao mao (pounded green rice).[10]

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 during wedding ceremony to visitors.

uggani and bajji (steamed puffed rice and fritters), a typical breakfast of Rayalaseema

In India, puffed rice is known as muri. Other regional names includes puri, mudhi, murmuri and pori. It is a staple food in Odisha and West Bengal.[11]

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.[12] 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 poojas in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Pilgrims of Sabarimala often pack puffed rice in their Irumudikettu along with jaggery meant to be offered to Lord Ayyappan. Tamil saints say that Lord Ganesh loves pori, so it should be offered to him without fail. Pori has been mentioned in various Tamil literatures as an offering to Hindu deities. Offerings of pori and jaggery made to Vinayagar (Lord Ganesh) are mentioned in the Tiruppugazh, a 15th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs, written by Tamil poet Arunagirinathar.

In Telangana, as a snack typically given to children, puffed rice or bongulu is made into 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 muri from Odisha would be part Indian traditional food among 12 traditional dishes from different states that would be launched globally.[13][11]

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 its very often eaten with Sev as a snack and also used in Bhel.