What is puffed rice

Puffed rice is experiencing a rebirth today thanks to the popularization of Asian culture. This snack is very popular in Korea, but it has been known in our latitudes for many years. Many remember the delicious rice kozinaki or crispy treats in waffle cones that were sold at every turn in the 90s. We tell you what puffed rice is, how to cook it, and use it in your kitchen.

Contents

What is puffed rice How to cook puffed rice How to Make Rice Popcorn Yourself How to Serve and Eat Puffed Rice What can be done?

Puffed rice is a specially prepared cereal that increases in volume and acquires a porous texture during processing. The grains literally explode and fill with air – hence the name.

In essence, it is rice popcorn. It is prepared in the same way as corn popcorn, but the taste is different. Its natural taste and aroma are not very bright, so it is adjusted with additives. Most often, sweet ones, mixing grains with corn or glucose syrup, sugar, and honey.

Today, puffed rice is sold in different forms. One of them is cereal without additives. If it was cooked in an extruder without oil, then 100 grams of the product would contain only six to seven grams of carbohydrates. Loose puffed grains can be eaten as a dry breakfast, poured with milk or yogurt, or added to various desserts – from bars to candies or even cakes.

The second popular option is ready-made kozinaki or bars. They usually consist of a grain base, as well as sugar, molasses or corn syrup. There are already much more carbohydrates in such a dessert – 60-80 grams, but it does not contain gluten and is suitable for people with celiac disease.

How to cook puffed rice

Modern factories use special extruders, also called air rice guns, to prepare puffed rice . The essence of this device is to apply pressure and heat to solid grain. Rice is poured into a sealed container, pressure is pumped into it, and the temperature is raised to 100 degrees. After that, the pressure is suddenly released, causing the grains to expand.

It is important to understand that, unlike corn, rice contains little moisture, so in its original form it will not burst in the extruder. To achieve the desired effect, the cereal is pre-treated with steam or lightly boiled, then dried and loaded into air guns in this form.

Interesting fact: Each grain increases in size by about 15 times during the extrusion process. However, there is another variety – popped rice . Unlike ” puffed “, it is visually more similar to popcorn: that is, the grain literally turns outward during cooking, and does not simply puff up. To achieve this effect, the rice is heated for a long time in a dry frying pan until it begins to pop.

How to Make Rice Popcorn Yourself

A snack prepared in an extruder has one important advantage: it does not contain oil. And, as a result, it is less caloric. At home, you will not be able to prepare a delicacy without oil, so 100 grams will contain 17 grams of fat and 200 kcal. You should not get carried away with it, but from time to time you can still please yourself and your children.

Puffed rice is prepared in four stages:

Boil the cereal until done, following the instructions on the package.
Drain the water, place the porridge on paper towels, and leave to dry for 30-40 minutes.
Place the rice on a baking sheet, spread it evenly and place in the oven, preheated to 80–100 degrees, for 2–2.5 hours.
Place a small amount of oven-dried grains in boiling oil and fry until they increase in volume. Then drain on paper towels to get rid of excess fat.

If you cook and eat puffed rice regularly, buy a special device for your home. A manual extruder consists of a sealed container into which the grain is poured and a stand with a burner. The container rotates on the stand, causing the temperature inside to rise and the pressure to increase. When the values reach the desired level, the container must be immersed in a special bag and carefully opened: the finished grains will literally shoot out.

How to Serve and Eat Puffed Rice

One of the options for use, which we have already mentioned, is using puffed rice as a dry breakfast. Pour milk, yogurt, kefir, or juice and eat in the morning instead of porridge. The dish will be filling and tasty, but at the same time low in calories.

The second way is to make delicious desserts with crunchy grains. For example, you can simply mix them with chocolate or any syrup and form bars or candies from the resulting mass. Also, the exploded cereal can become the highlight of a more complex dessert: it crunches perfectly, so it is suitable as a filling for chocolate or cake.

However, it is worth remembering that even after frying in oil or extruding, rice still remains a cereal and can be the basis of main courses. In the Indian state of Karnataka, a delicious vegan snack called churmuri, or masala mandakki, is popular, in which the crispy base is mixed with chopped ripe tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, salt, and lemon juice. The dish is garnished with roasted peanuts and fresh coriander and seasoned with oil – sesame, coconut, or ghee.

What can be done?

Cook at home not only rice popcorn but also traditional corn or unusual buckwheat. Yadritsa, like rice, also needs to be boiled, dried, and fried in hot oil.