Rice Snacks · FFET10406
Puffed rice snack (baomihua)
Rice is puffed, mixed with syrup, pressed and cut into pieces—a festive sweet in several regions.
Cakes and snacks made from rice and rice flour.
Baomihua here means rice or glutinous rice puffed into mihua, not corn popcorn; it is also called baomixiang or mitong. The puffed rice is often mixed with hot sugar or maltose syrup, with additions such as peanuts and sesame, then pressed and cut into rice candy. Related preparations are documented in Suji in Sichuan, Wangmo in Guizhou, Huangshan in Anhui, Du’an in Guangxi, and Taiwan; the accounts from Huangshan and Du’an describe it as a Spring Festival food.
What
Baomihua in this entry means rice or glutinous rice that has been heated until it puffs, not corn popcorn. The puffed rice can be mixed with hot sugar or maltose syrup, pressed and cut into rice candy, with additions such as peanuts and sesame.1,3,4,9
When
Dongmitang in Huangshan, Anhui, is a Spring Festival snack. A related rice snack in Du’an, Guangxi, is eaten from the first day of the twelfth lunar month through the end of the Spring Festival, and a maker in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, sells it from Mid-Autumn to Tomb-sweeping. An account of older Wu-region customs describes people popping glutinous grain in a pan at the Lantern Festival, calling it bolou or mihua and each person popping their own to foretell the year. The page gives no year for the text, and the passage describes popped grain, so it does not establish an origin date for syrup-bound rice candy.3,6,7,8
Where
Related preparations are documented in Suji old town in Leshan, Sichuan; Wangmo, Guizhou; Huangshan, Anhui; Du’an in Hechi, Guangxi; and Taiwan. Syrups, additions, and puffing methods vary by place.4,5,6,7,8
How
Rice can be puffed in a pressure cooker, by stirring in hot sand or hot salt, or by frying. In Suji, rice is puffed in oiled sand, mixed with boiled malt sugar, pressed into molds, and cut. In Wangmo, glutinous rice is puffed in river sand, mixed with brown sugar syrup, peanuts, and black sesame, then shaped by hand. In Huangshan, glutinous rice is steamed, sun-dried, and fried before being mixed with maltose syrup and pressed and cut in a wooden frame. A craft account from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, describes pressure-puffing rice, mixing it with syrup, pressing it into a wooden mold, and cutting it while hot.2,4,5,6,8
Why
Rice candy is made and shared for festivals in some places. In Taiwan, round fried rice treats are also served to guests as a symbol of completeness.1,5
Impact and influence
A February 2026 feature on Suji old town documented fifth-generation maker Xia Lunhua making rice candy, showing the skills of puffing rice, boiling syrup, pressing it into molds, and cutting it. An encyclopedia entry also says Hong Kong’s 2024 intangible cultural heritage inventory lists the craft of making chaomitong; this has not been verified against the official inventory.1,4
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is how I make rice candy at home: boil the syrup to the soft-ball stage, stir in ready-made puffed rice, peanuts, sesame and meat floss, then press, cool and cut. The amounts follow a recipe by a named author on a recipe blog, which uses bought puffed rice and adds meat floss; I put a Hakka-Hawaiian version by another named author, from a newspaper, in the tips.
Ingredients
- Puffed rice (ready-made) 250 g
- Toasted peanuts 80 g
- Toasted white sesame seeds 40 g
- Meat floss 60 g, pulled apart
- Sugar (for the syrup) 250 g
- Maltose (for the syrup) 50 g
- Oil (for the syrup) 1 tablespoon
- Lime juice (for the syrup) 1 tablespoon
- Water (for the syrup) 150 ml
- Aluminum foil, non-stick spray, parchment, a little oil for lining the pan, covering and the knife
Steps
- Line a pan of about 14 x 14 inches (about 35 x 35 cm) with aluminum foil, spray the top with non-stick spray and brush on a little oil.
- Pull the meat floss apart as much as you can so it does not clump when mixed.
- Put the sugar, maltose, oil, lime juice and water in a large skillet or wok, stir until the maltose dissolves, bring to a boil, then lower to low-medium heat and simmer until bubbly and thick.
- Drop a little syrup into room-temperature water; when it forms a soft ball that holds its shape briefly and then flattens, it is at the soft-ball stage, about 112°C (234°F).
- Once the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, add the puffed rice, peanuts, sesame seeds and meat floss and stir until evenly mixed.
- Right away, spread the mixture over the pan with a rubber spatula, cover it with parchment sprayed with non-stick spray, and flatten it gently with a rolling pin.
- Let it cool completely until it hardens.
- Cut it into the shape you like with a sharp, lightly oiled knife, for about 60 pieces.
Tips
- This recipe uses ready-made puffed rice and adds meat floss, so it is a variation. To puff glutinous rice yourself, see the Hakka-Hawaiian “toong mai” by another named author: soak 1 cup of glutinous rice, steam it for 40 minutes, dry it in an oven at about 80°C (175°F) for 45 minutes, rest it 3 to 4 hours, then deep-fry it in oil at about 190°C (375°F) until it puffs. Boil 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vinegar to 116 to 118°C (240 to 245°F), coat the rice with 1/4 cup of peanuts, press it to about 2 cm (3/4 inch) thick, roll it to about 1.3 cm (1/2 inch), then cool and cut. It is a fried-puffed relative, not the standard way across China.
- The syrup is very hot, so be careful when you stir it in and spread it.
Allergens: peanut, sesame