Ideas for savory rice krispie treats?

I was at the Violet Hour last Saturday, and among the snacks my boyfriend and I shared were their curry rice krispie treats (served with candied nuts and house-made cheddar biscuits). I loved the idea of savory rice krispie treats, and I've since re-created the ones we had at the Violet Hour. I made a half batch in case the result was disastrous, but I got it on the first try: 1/2-3/4 teaspoon of curry powder and a dash of cayenne mixed in with the melted butter. The curry is subtle, but it cuts the sweetness of the marshmallows nicely. In my next batch, I might add a dash of salt, but otherwise I was happy with my version.

So now I'm on a savory rice krispie kick and am looking for additional ideas. Jewel recently had rice krispies on sale, so I've stocked up with enough boxes to last me until I work through my rice-krispie-treat ya-yas. I've plenty of room to experiment. Savory ideas, anyone?

I have been making spiced nuts lately, and I wonder if some of those recipes could be adapted for your purposes. A number of these recipes use stiffly-beaten egg whites as a coating and binder for the sugar and spice mixtures, and I could imagine that working for rice krispies, too. The egg whites might give you more flexibility and more savory options than you have with the marshmallow cream.

My suggestion would be to take a look at some spiced nut recipes (mine are from epicurious.com) and then experiment with them.

What about a soy-sauce-based flavor? Soy and sugar-based sauces/marinades are very common so the soy sauce should play nice with the sweetness of the marshmallow. From there, you could go in a lot of directions - ginger & garlic, lime & chiles, etc.

Thai would definitely work too -- go easy on the fish sauce, but add finely shredded keffir lime leaves and lime zest and juice (the latter are NOT substitutes), galangal or ginger, garlic and shallots, chopped peanuts. A little shredded coconut could work, as would dried shrimp.

Wrap in a leaf with some cilantro, and you've got cubist one-bite salad.

These are all such great ideas! Thanks! I thought also just to go to Mitsuwa and get ideas in their snack aisles. There's a lot of soy-sauce based snacks (rice crackers and such), but there's got to be more unusual varieties, too, that would work with rice krispies and marshmallows.

Rice Krispies has several recipes on their site, including cheese sticks and sweet potato sticks. These don't contain marshmallow, though.

1. This thread is the number one hit on Google for savory rice krispie treat

2. Adding 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder and a dash of cayenne to my quarter batch of rice krispie treats was a fabulous idea. Thank you, happy_stomach.

3. Have you done any further experiments? I'm thinking of trying something peppery.

I'd definitely experiment with spices and adding chopped nuts.

Off the top of my head:

--Cardamom and chopped almonds
--Grains of Paradise (or just black pepper) and pecans
--Curry powder and cashew
--Ancho chile powder and peanuts

Now... don't call me crazy...

There is this amazing rice cracker snack from Thailand, where pieces of crispy rice crackers are topped with... shredded pork floss. It is amazingly good. I have one pack left from my visit in December and I am resisting the urge to open it.

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fj123 wrote:1. This thread is the number one hit on Google for savory rice krispie treat

Awesome!

I've made the curry rice krispie treats several times in the last year, but I got distracted from my experimentation by other dessert projects. My most notable success was with crushed pink peppercorns. I'm a huge fan of pepper/peppercorns in general, but I love the way the pink peppercorns in particular cut the taste of the marshmallows. (Actually, pink peppercorns were my newest favorite dessert ingredient of 2008.)

I really liked the idea of putting nuts in rice krispie treats, but I wasn't crazy about the reality of it, specifically the texture of the crisped rice up against the texture of almonds or pecans (the two nuts I tried)--just kind of funny to me, didn't quite work.

CrazyC wrote:Now... don't call me crazy...

There is this amazing rice cracker snack from Thailand, where pieces of crispy rice crackers are topped with... shredded pork floss.

Somewhat unbelievably, especially since I haven't tried the kind of cracker you mention, I've been thinking about pork floss in relationship to desserts in the last two weeks. One of my co-workers brought back from Taiwan earlier this month what I started calling vegetarian pork floss. I need to get more clarification on what it was exactly, but I got hooked on the stuff. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me), none of my other co-workers took to it, so I basically consumed the two bags in our office kitchen on my own. It got me thinking about potential uses for the stuff, and a new savory rice krispie treat crossed my mind. I haven't tried to make it yet though. I'll have to find some of the non-pork floss here, which I don't think will be difficult. I'll report if I get to it.

I'd say go full-Adria on this and do a patatas bravas version with saffron, garlic powder, and paprika. They'd be beautiful, as well. Add crushed potato chips for additional texture and saltiness if you like.

I've been toying around with that biscotti thins recipe from epicurious and just realized that it might be a good binder for a power-bar sort of thing (I have a recipe in the works that I'll post here, but it isn't savory) I don't know that the sugar is even necessary for success with that recipe. Might give even more options.

Have you tried something with wasabi peas?

Probably not what you had in mind but just the regular recipe with some ground dried habanero thrown in would be a kick!

teatpuller wrote:Probably not what you had in mind but just the regular recipe with some ground dried habanero thrown in would be a kick!

Ooh! Lately I've been putting Guatemalan cobanero chili in everything chocolate I've been making, but I bet it'd work with rice krispie treats. The heat level of habanero is fine, but I find cobanero a more interesting flavor.

Santander wrote:I'd say go full-Adria on this and do a patatas bravas version with saffron, garlic powder, and paprika. They'd be beautiful, as well. Add crushed potato chips for additional texture and saltiness if you like.

Love this idea, particularly the potato chip part. I'll try it this weekend.

What is "pork floss"?

Also dying to know - and where can I get it? And, while we're at it, what the heck is "vegetarian pork floss?"

razbry wrote:What is "pork floss"?

Pork floss, otherwise known as rousong, on Wikipedia

Mhays wrote:Also dying to know - and where can I get it? And, while we're at it, what the heck is "vegetarian pork floss?"

Vegetarian pork floss was the name I gave the snack my co-worker shared. I just checked with her, and while she said my term was "fine," it's probably better described as tofu jerky (though its texture is much threadier than, say, beef jerky). The literal translation of the Chinese name is dried soybeans. It's usually eaten on its own as a snack unlike pig floss, which is eaten over rice or used in sandwiches (unless it's my co-worker's six-year-old son, who just eats it with a spoon). I'm told that the tofu jerky (sometimes made with mushrooms, too) is pretty easy to find around Chicago. I just haven't tried yet.

See, now, I'm certain I would have enjoyed congee more if it had been topped with pork floss as it shows in the article. Now there's yet another thing (or couple of things) for me to keep an eye out for at H-Mart.

how about a thai peanut sauce rice krispy treat--you could use coconut milk and peanut butter in place of some of the marshmallow.

happy_stomach wrote:... pig floss, which is eaten over rice or used in sandwiches (unless it's my co-worker's six-year-old son, who just eats it with a spoon).

I eat it with a spoon...

You can find the pork floss in any Asian grocery store. Usually in a big clear container with a white screwlid.

elakin wrote:how about a thai peanut sauce rice krispy treat--you could use coconut milk and peanut butter in place of some of the marshmallow.

I think this is a good suggestion except that at the moment I have kind of a negative association with the PB-coconut milk combination. One of my newest kitchen hobbies has been to make my own granola, and I tried a Thai peanut version with pretty yucky results. (Actually, all of my attempts to make granola that's less sweet and more savory have been somewhat disastrous.) I do think the PB-coconut milk combo could work though with rice krispies, especially with a spicy kick. Maybe I'll give it a try once I recover from my granola mishap.

Furikake, sometimes called "rice helper" is available at many Asian markets, notably Mitsuwa and HMart, but can be found at many others. It's a spice/flavoring mixture that varies wildly in content and is normally sprinkled over rice to add some subtle flavor, and often to help kids finish their rice. There are lots of variations (often with colorful characters on the envelope), but they are usually cheap enough to indulge in seven or eight "flavors" and try them all without breaking the bank.

The first time I ate the curried rice krispy bars at Violet Hour, I immediately thought about adding furikake into a savory rice krispy mix to make it interesting. I haven't tried it yet, but on my next trip out to HMart I'll definitely be picking up a handful of types to play with.

There is also another japanese condiment called shichimi no togorashi (seven flavor spicy pepper), often served alongside ramen. It definitely would be another one to add into the mix, as it has flavors of orange peel, poppy seeds, sansho (a spicy pepper), and... I forget the others, but it's hot and savory.

Other thoughts I'm having (I'm hungry writing this!):

* black pepper, lemon zest, salt
* pizza? oregano, roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, olive oil
* preserved lemons and pomegranate arils?
* Chinese five spice powder and extra grated ginger
* wasabi and sesame

Thanks for the inspiring post!

petermavrik wrote:Furikake, sometimes called "rice helper" is available at many Asian markets, notably Mitsuwa and HMart, but can be found at many others. It's a spice/flavoring mixture that varies wildly in content and is normally sprinkled over rice to add some subtle flavor, and often to help kids finish their rice.

Or adults... Furikake is one of the few condiments I keep in my office desk.



A shrimpy flavor with marshmallow* isn't that appealing to me, but I like the idea of seaweed a lot and possibly some of the less fishy varieties of furikake, which I have at home.

petermavrik wrote:There is also another japanese condiment called shichimi no togorashi (seven flavor spicy pepper), often served alongside ramen. It definitely would be another one to add into the mix, as it has flavors of orange peel, poppy seeds, sansho (a spicy pepper), and... I forget the others, but it's hot and savory.

Ooh. I don't know if I've had shichimi no togorashi (like the sound of it!), but I have sansho at home, which I should try.

petermavrik wrote:Other thoughts I'm having (I'm hungry writing this!):

* black pepper, lemon zest, salt

I really like this idea, too. I've got the lemon-black pepper Trader Joe's mix at home. I should use that to see if I'll like lemon with marshmallow (then move on to lemon zest). Thanks!

I'm thinking I need to get rice krispies and marshmallows in bulk this weekend...

*Yes, I could use another binding agent besides marshmallow, especially since I'm always looking for savory flavors that will cut the marshmallow flavor, but I think I'm starting to believe that rice krispies and marshmallows are the minimal requirements for something to qualify as a rice krispie treat.

happy_stomach wrote: A shrimpy flavor with marshmallow* isn't that appealing to me, but I like the idea of seaweed a lot and possibly some of the less fishy varieties of furikake, which I have at home.

We bought some very pretty rice krispie treat thingies from H-Mart just to see what they were like: turned out they were more like rice krispie brittle with different flavors. Of course, the green one was, as expected, seaweed flavor (there were pink and white which were I think plum and unflavored.)

I can eat them, but I have to say I just don't get their appeal.

Another idea I just had... The visual effect would be pretty minimal since I probably wouldn't use much, but what about just sea salt? I've stocked up on red and black Hawaiian sea salts from the Spice House to use on a brown sugar-semolina cookie that I've become obsessed with. Maybe I'll try out a half batch of rice krispie treats with a few pinches of the red salt.

happy_stomach wrote:*Yes, I could use another binding agent besides marshmallow, especially since I'm always looking for savory flavors that will cut the marshmallow flavor, but I think I'm starting to believe that rice krispies and marshmallows are the minimal requirements for something to qualify as a rice krispie treat.

Perhaps so. On the hand, I would argue that the minimal requirement for something to be called savory is that it not include marshmallows

I could use another binding agent besides marshmallow, especially since I'm always looking for savory flavors that will cut the marshmallow flavor, but I think I'm starting to believe that rice krispies and marshmallows are the minimal requirements for something to qualify as a rice krispie treat.

you could also make your own marshmallows to use in the RCT's. then you could make them any flavor you wanted and manipulate the sugar content you're dealing with.

a quick google search using the term "savory marshmallow" yielded more than 100,000 hits.

elakin wrote:a quick google search using the term "savory marshmallow" yielded more than 100,000 hits.

"tomato pussycat" yields almost twice that many.

i only got four.