29 replies to this topic

[formula400]

right i know to to do pop corn but how would i go about puffing rice????would be a really cool garnish.

cheers people.

[heidih]

We briefly discussed it here.

[Jenni]

Here in India rice is puffed by putting it in a karahi with very hot sand. It is stirred around until it puffs and is then strained. On the street you can get freshly puffed mixtures of peas and grains of all kinds. It is weighed out according to how much you want to spend, then puffed. Afterwards a common dressing is with some chopped onion, chopped chilli and chopped coriander, plus some spices, salt and mustard oil. Really delicious.

[formula400]

cheer you 2, any in depth recipes for pastry use????

or could i follow the method mentioned, sock over night, dry in low oven and fry???

[Tri2Cook]

I cook rice in an excess of water until what would normally be considered overcooked. I then drain it, spread it on trays and dehydrate it until completely dry. I store it in airtight containers until needed, a quick flash in hot oil puffs it nicely. It works equally well with barley. I don't see any reason it would work with other grains as well but I haven't played around with them yet. It also works, with a different textural result, with pasta.

[formula400]

cheers for that try2cook.

[Jenni]

Here I think the rice is puffed raw. Certainly it looks raw.

[Tri2Cook]

Rice will usually puff just by tossing it in hot oil. I've just found I get a bigger puff and more consistent results with the cook/dehydrate method. It seems to store well so I just do larger amounts and have it on hand when I need it.

Also, in my first post, that should have said "I don't see any reason it wouldn't work with other grains". Apparently it was too early for proofreading before I posted.

[Shalmanese]

Here's a really good article from Cooking Issues on the science of puffing

[Tri2Cook]

Here's a really good article from Cooking Issues on the science of puffing

Thanks! I wasn't aware of an ideal moisture level in the dried product so that's definitely helpful information. The rest is pretty much what I do anyway but if over-drying can reduce the success rate I'll have to be a little more watchful during the dehydrating process from now on.

[formula400]

well i had a go today at work and the dryer you get them the better they puff, going to try and boil the rice with sugar ti get them sweeter, and also try frying them off in hazelnut/peanut oil


puffed rice by lewis wilson, on Flickr

[Jenni]

Honestly, save yourself some oil and try the sand method! Actually this is a genuine request as I have always wanted to have a go at it but don't know where to get the sand...

[Shalmanese]

going to try and boil the rice with sugar ti get them sweeter

Cooking Issues says that sugar will burn before the puffs puff.

Honestly, save yourself some oil and try the sand method! Actually this is a genuine request as I have always wanted to have a go at it but don't know where to get the sand...

A beach?

[Jenni]

No beach near me! The tela-wale who sell this particular snack probably nick it from a building site or something :P

[dcarch]

I will not use any sand.

Sand is almost like glass and may have very sharp edges. There may be many other impurities as well. Microscopic sand particles can cause cancer in your lungs (silicosis).

I have never puffed rice, but I have puffed pork skin a lot (cracklings). I get perfect puffing of pork skin in a high heat oven. No frying in oil at all.

I will try puffing rice in a hot oven and see if that works.

dcarch

[Tri2Cook]

Microscopic sand particles can cause cancer in your lungs (silicosis).

Considering the amount of microscopic sand particles we probably unknowingly inhale on a daily basis, I think a few pieces in the rice is going to have pretty low odds of increasing the risk by much. Not that I'm an expert on the matter.

[mgaretz]

Maybe salt would work?

[JTravel]

Maybe salt would work?

This topic is interesting to me...I'm looking forward to seeing what you all work out. Not inclined to deep fry, but the salt idea might have possibilities.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Microscopic sand particles can cause cancer in your lungs (silicosis).

Considering the amount of microscopic sand particles we probably unknowingly inhale on a daily basis, I think a few pieces in the rice is going to have pretty low odds of increasing the risk by much. Not that I'm an expert on the matter.

Amen to that, Tri2Cook, and especially true for those who live within the ashfall radius of active volcanoes (where the rate of silicosis is actually astoundingly low). I probably breathe more silica on a daily basis than I get from my Machica (roasted barley flour, which is done whole-grain in hot sand in a very similar method to Jenni's rice puffing detailed above.)

I'm also interested to try the hot salt method - it seems that it would have interesting results

[heidih]

Here is the topic I was thinking of when I posted my earlier link. I have seen this popper blaster thing at my local Korean market.

[Jenni]

I will not use any sand.

Sand is almost like glass and may have very sharp edges. There may be many other impurities as well. Microscopic sand particles can cause cancer in your lungs (silicosis).

Meh. It's a pretty traditional method that has been used for quite a while now. If it was hugely contributing to cancer, then I would have thought there would be high levels of lung cancer that someone might look into and find the link? I could easily be wrong, I am no scientist. And traditional does not equal automatically good for you, it is true.

And of course, everyone is welcome to consume what they wish, so it's up to you if you'd like to use a different method. I was merely sharing about how puffing is done here

[dcarch]

I will not use any sand.

Sand is almost like glass and may have very sharp edges. There may be many other impurities as well. Microscopic sand particles can cause cancer in your lungs (silicosis).

Meh. It's a pretty traditional method that has been used for quite a while now. If it was hugely contributing to cancer, then I would have thought there would be high levels of lung cancer that someone might look into and find the link? I could easily be wrong, I am no scientist. And traditional does not equal automatically good for you, it is true.

And of course, everyone is welcome to consume what they wish, so it's up to you if you'd like to use a different method. I was merely sharing about how puffing is done here

I should have underlined "any" in "any sand".

The sand they use will have no sharp edges and no microscopic particles. After many uses, the sand grains more or less are round from abrasion and all microscopic particles have been used up in many uses.

I don't know if there is danger in having sharp particles in you digestive system.

dcarch

Edited by dcarch, 24 April 2012 - 08:55 PM.

[Jenni]

I don't know if there is danger in having sharp particles in you digestive system.

dcarch

Not sure, but my Mum has memories of going to watch speedway when she was younger, and seeing Hells Angels in the pub at night eating beer bottles for fun...

[haresfur]

Well if you really are worried about the sand but really want to use it you can get washed sand with very rounded grains and uniform particle size. See if your local water well driller will let you have some. I like the salt idea, though.

[annachan]

I miss puffed rice. My grandmother used to purchase large bags of them. She'll put some in a bowl with toasted sesame, a pinch of salt, some cilantro and then add hot tea. I was a great snack. I am not sure why but I think the ones she got was cooked in sand.

[Jenni]

I miss puffed rice. My grandmother used to purchase large bags of them. She'll put some in a bowl with toasted sesame, a pinch of salt, some cilantro and then add hot tea. I was a great snack. I am not sure why but I think the ones she got was cooked in sand.

This sounds interesting and I would like to try. What kind of tea? Also, can you give a rough ratio of rice to tea?

[annachan]

We usually have pu-erh tea at home, but jasmine, oolong and such will probably work. It's meant to be a causal snack, I imagine people just use what they have on hand. As for rice to tea, I say more rice than tea. It's not meant to be soupy. Just to wet the ingredients and a little extra.

[dcarch]

They also roast chestnuts in sand.

I would consider this if I was going to use sand for food:

Using a sieve to filter out all the smaller grains of sand, and then have a jeweler’s tumbler with very fine grades of silicone carbide powder to tumble the larger grains of sand.

The sand will be polished smooth and all sharp points rounded off.

We don’t have gizzards and have no use for sand in our system.

dcarch

[annachan]

So, I saw puffed rice at a local Indian store and couldn't help but get a bag. Not sure how they were puffed but looked like the ones grandma used to buy.

Seeing Chinese celery at the market today, I suddenly remembered that my grandma used to put that in the puff rice as well. I got some and made myself a snack. Puffed rice, toasted sesame, salt, chopped celery and then tea. Toward the end of the bowl, I said something familiar - a small amount of fine sand. My guess is that the rice I got may have been puffed with sand as I couldn't think of anything else that it could have come from (I washed the celery very well!). I really brought me back to my childhood.

[HowardLi]

Playground sand (safe for kids) would be sold at your local home improvement store. I bet you could cook with it, as long as you rinsed it first.