Puffed (Or Crispy) Unsweetened Brown Rice Cereal In Thailand

[Jingthing]

I like to eat cereals (with soy milk for breakfast). As many know, imported breakfast cereals are very expensive in Thailand and eating cereal for breakfast isn't a traditional Thai breakfast. I also strongly prefer UNSWEETENED cereals, which hilariously are marketed as health food and priced at a premium. So for no sugar you pay more than with sugar. Oh well.

In any case, I have dealt with the high cost of cereal here by using smaller portions. I buy German imported no sugar corn flakes and used to buy Grape Nuts cereal. However, the price of Grape Nuts cereal has become so ridiculous that I won't buy it anymore.

So about the thread.

Why isn't there a MADE IN THAILAND version of puffed or crispy brown rice (unsweetened) cereal? The demand for that IN Thailand may indeed be small and limited to health conscious expats and Thais but Thailand being a major rice producer could have a big potential export market with such a product.

Yes, imported versions are sold in Thailand, again, ridiculously expensive for a basic rice product, in a country that is a global rice basket. So instead of exporting the raw product, Thailand could do a VALUE ADD on rice by processing into healthy breakfast cereal to make more profits (and also sell domestically at a competitive advantage to imported puffed rice).

Anyway, perhaps this is a whine, but it seems to me that is a product with potential for Thailand to produce.

The imported stuff. Good product but not worth the price in Thailand:

[peppat]

having an idea, isnt really a local trait here...

and when an expat has one, he will be booted out, as soon as the product becomes successful - and that was it then about it...

i agree, having a cereal breakfast with yoghurt and an apple is more expensive than a breakfast buffett...

you know posts cereals? some have no sugar added, and if so only fructose like things - not like kellogs...

but grape nuts i havent seen here, and of course its freaking expensive... (220 or 280 baht per package)

http://www.postfoods.com/cereals/grape-nuts/#nutrition

[Jingthing]

having an idea, isnt really a local trait here...

...

Ouch!

[Thaddeus]

Our local outdoor market has one stall that makes rice cakes with puffed rice, basically a slab of puffed rice held together with melted sugar. I'm sure you must have something similar near your location JT. Try asking for a bag post-puff but pre-sugar.

[Jingthing]

Our local outdoor market has one stall that makes rice cakes with puffed rice, basically a slab of puffed rice held together with melted sugar. I'm sure you must have something similar near your location JT. Try asking for a bag post-puff but pre-sugar.

I have seen this product but have not seen the bags pre-processing.

[notmyself]

Had a bit of spare time and found some stuff.

It can't be that hard. I look at Rice Krispys and Pirate's Booty (side note: I can dust off a bag in 10 minutes on a BAD day) and rice cakes and all that stuff and I think to myself -- self, you can make popcorn. Why can't you make puffed rice at home?

So this led me to investigating, and investigating I did. According to many accounts, puffed rice was first discovered by an American biochemist at the beginning of the 20th Century who got bored and stuffed some rice into an old cannon and voila! puffed rice was born.

Nowadays, there are big "guns" that shoot the rice at high pressure and heat. Not really suitable for West L.A. life (might work on the East side).

Through my investigations, I discovered this gem of a site called the hungrybrowser archives where people ask obscure questions related to food and this guy answers. He takes his job very seriously. Great grass-roots internet stuff.

Meanwhile, I'm loading up the shotgun in the backyard.

From the site....

LIVED IN TAIWAN TWO YEARS. A GUY ON A BICYCLE HAD A MACHINE THAT PUFFED RICE FOR US. IT WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL, MADE OF CAST IRON AND ROTATED OVER AN OPEN FLAME. HAD A PRESSURE GUAGE AND MANUALLY MAINTAINED PRESSURE BY CONTROLLING HEAT. AFTER ABOUT EIGHT MINUTES THE LID WAS POPPED OPEN INTO A COVERING GUNNY SACK AND WITH A LOUD EXPLOSION-PUFFED RICE! A CUP OF RICE WOULD MAKE ABOUT 2 1/2 CUBIC FEET.

The usual way is to cook under pressure, and then depressurise very quickly.

http://www.instructa...uff-brown-rice/

http://www.ecplaza.n...t--7721803.html

And here it is being done on the street.

[Jingthing]

A great Thai industry is born!

[Thaddeus]

Our local outdoor market has one stall that makes rice cakes with puffed rice, basically a slab of puffed rice held together with melted sugar. I'm sure you must have something similar near your location JT. Try asking for a bag post-puff but pre-sugar.

I have seen this product but have not seen the bags pre-processing.

You won't JT, you need to ask them.

[Jingthing]

Our local outdoor market has one stall that makes rice cakes with puffed rice, basically a slab of puffed rice held together with melted sugar. I'm sure you must have something similar near your location JT. Try asking for a bag post-puff but pre-sugar.

I have seen this product but have not seen the bags pre-processing.

You won't JT, you need to ask them.

They will think I'm insane for wanting stuff with no sugar!

[Thaddeus]

Our local outdoor market has one stall that makes rice cakes with puffed rice, basically a slab of puffed rice held together with melted sugar. I'm sure you must have something similar near your location JT. Try asking for a bag post-puff but pre-sugar.

I have seen this product but have not seen the bags pre-processing.

You won't JT, you need to ask them.

They will think I'm insane for wanting stuff with no sugar!

It's a risk worth taking...... trust me.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I concur with Jing's comments... I went thru the same ordeal trying to find locally produced brown rice flour for baking here... Impossible to find a local product, but did finally source some imported varieties... But this being rice heavy Thailand, you'd think you wouldn't have to go imported to find a rice product.

As for the cereals...I think some of the products listed above are WHITE rice items, as opposed to brown rice, which is what Jing was asking for.

In my travels, a couple of my Villa Markets in BKK have some of the best selection of natural cereals I've found anywhere. For example, Villa stocks 500g bags of (pure, nothing added) spelt flakes imported from the U.S. (which make a nice chewy, crunchy cereal, for about 180 baht a bag... And they have several other varieties of grains only cereals, with no sugars or other stuff added. They've also been stocking some imported puffed Kamut grain cereals, which is a variety of wheat. But I'm not sure I've seen a brown rice variety among them.

For me, I've been using the 1 KG bags of Hahne Grape Nuts muesli, which usually runs about 150 to 160 baht per bag. Pretty much just several varieties of grains and some nuts added. I don't think they add any sugar, but I don't have the label in front of me at the moment. I usually add some cinnamon for flavoring and some raisins or dried cranberries.

The same company also makes a multi fruit muesli in the same size bags and usually for somewhat lower price, but it contains a lot more added ingredients besides several varieties of dried fruits, including for example, barley malt syrup.

[Jingthing]

Muesli that says no sugar "added" is usually chock full of sugar sweetened dried fruits. Deceptive.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Jing, the "Grape Nut" muesli that I mentioned above has NO dried fruit added in.... It's just grains and nuts.

I mentioned in my post above that I added some cranberries on my own.... But there aren't any that come in the package.