Chinese New Year Hakka Mi Fen Chang & Mi Chang Recipe. Traditional Bee Hoon & Rice Puff Crackers 炸米粉呈.米呈

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, I had the privilege to learn how to make traditional Hakka mi chang 米呈 (rice puff or bubble crackers) and mi fen chang 米粉呈 (bee hoon puff crackers). These crispy snacks are delicious, not too hard fun to make and can be enjoyed anytime, not only during Chinese New Year.



The thing about mi chang and mi fen chang is they are very versatile and can be enjoyed in any flavours. This is sambal chili mi fen chang - the only limit is our own imagination 😄

Ah Yen 谢亚燕 demonstrated how to make mi fen chang in her own kitchen.



The first thing is to make the mi fen puff. Mi fen (in Mandarin) or bee hoon (in Hokkien) is rice vermicelli. Just use generic store bought mi fen.



To make mi fen puff, simply dip the store bought rice vermicelli (mi fen in Mandarin) into a wok of hot oil. The rice vermicelli will puff up into a wiry ball in a second - yes, literally 1 second. We are done for this part 😄



The ingredients for Ah Yen's health fortifying 养生 mi fen chang.



Next, Ah Yen put the mi fen puffs into a plastic bag and lightly crushed them into smaller pieces.



Ah Yen melts the brown sugar by stirring them in a hot wok.



Add malt sugar to the melted brown sugar.



Test the malt and brown sugar blend in a bowl of room temperature water. The sugars are ready when you can pull it like a thick silky string without breaking.



When the sugar is ready, add in the ingredients - dried longan, dried red dates, dried goji berries, toasted black and white sesame seeds, lemon juice.



Stir until the ingredients are well coated with sugar.



Add in crushed mi fen puffs.




Fold the mi fen puffs and ingredients until everything is well coated with melted sugar.



Out of the blue, Ah Yen suddenly recalled that she has some raisin soaked in wine. So, she tossed some into the mi fen chang. And, that's the thing about mi fen chang or mi chang. What we put in really is up to our whims imagination and taste. Anything goes, so long as it tastes good together 😋



When satisfied that the mi fen puffs and ingredients are well mixed and coated with sugar, transfer the contents into a shallow tray.



The next step is to flatten the mi fen puff. Ah Yen used a baking mat (any heat resistant flat sheet will do) to cover the tray of mi fen puff and go over it, pushing down with a rolling pin.



Ah Yen compacts the mi fen puffs some more. Any flat surface can be used to press firmly on the mi fen chang.



Allow the mi fen chang to cool sufficiently, letting it stiffen and crisp slightly. Now, cut up the mi fen chang into neat, small rectangles using a chopper.



Pack the pieces of mi fen chang into air tight containers when they are sufficiently cooled.



Mi fen chang are like little crispy biscuits. They have a tacky feel from the melted sugar and have a nice gentle crisp. The flavours depend on the ingredients use. They can be savoury, sweet or spicy, I like them all.



Savoury mi chang (rice puff cracker) made with bonito flakes, dried seaweed, toasted black and white sesame seeds, and teriyaki sauce.



Spicy sweet mi fen chang with mild sambal chili and toasted groundnuts.



Savoury sweet aromatic mi fen chang with toasted peanut, black and white sesame seed, teriyaki sauce, XO sauce and coriander leaf.

 

If you like to learn how to make mi chang and other traditional dishes, you can contact Ah Yen via her Facebook page. Ah Yen conducts cooking lessons online via video live streaming.

Chinese New Year food traditions 👈 click

Date: 21 Dec 2019