Hawaiian-Style Chex Mix

One of the first Christmases I spent in Hawaii, I remember my pastor’s wife, Aunty Terumi, giving me a bag of Hawaiian-style Chex Mix in a Ziploc bag. I thought it was just some cereal mixed together and didn’t really understand why it would be a special treat. But I was told I was very fortunate to be a recipient of Aunty Terumi’s Chex mix. She was renowned for her party Chex mix. As soon as I took a bite, I understood the fuss.

It was spectacular.

The combination of Chex cereal, honeycomb cereal, pretzels, nuts and Japanese rice crackers (arare) tossed with furikake and other seasonings were an addictive concoction that left you wanting more and more until the entire bag was gone. I looked forward to Christmas every year after that for a bag of that yummy treat. But I never thought to make it myself.

This Christmas season, I saw a huge bag of Chex Mix on sale at Costco and suddenly Aunty Terumi’s Hawaiian Chex Mix flooded my memories and reminded me of just how long it had been since I had tasted this flavorful snack. I bought the bag and also went to the local Asian store to pick up some rice crackers and furikake. After looking up some recipes online (unfortunately, I had not gotten Aunty Terumi’s recipe), I set out to try making my own.

Chex Mix and Rice Crackers

After making two batches, and tweaking with the recipe, I must say, I’m quite pleased with the result. If you need an addictive snack to start your Christmas party, do try this Hawaiian party Chex Mix recipe and see just how quickly it will get devoured by your guests.

Hawaiian-Style Chex Mix Recipe

Prep time: 15 min, Cook time: 1 hour 30 min
Yield: 24 servings

Ingredients
6-8 cups Chex mix (you could use Chex cereal alone, or a combination of Chex, honeycomb cereal, pretzels, nuts (peanuts or macadamia or cashews work well), popcorn, or the bag of mix that I got from Costco)
4-6 cups Japanese rice crackers (I chose a mixed bag, but you could get any one type if you want), for a total of 12 cups for everything (a little bit more won’t hurt but don’t overdo it otherwise the seasoning sauce you make won’t coat everything enough)
1 oz Aji nori furikake, about half the bottle (you can use any other type but I like the one that is just seaweed and sesame seeds)
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsps hot sauce (Tabasco or any other hot sauce that you like, and depending on how spicy you want it, you might want to add more or less)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 250 F. Line two half sheet trays with foil and spray with Pam (this will help you as the Chex mix starts to bake so that it won’t stick to your foil).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cereal, nuts, pretzels, and rice crackers.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add sugar and mix until sugar has dissolved. Add corn syrup, oil (my trick is to measure out the oil first, pour into the saucepan then measure out the corn syrup in same cup and pour it out. The oil helps the corn syrup to slide out easily without sticking to the cup measure), Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to butter mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk constantly. The mixture will bubble up. Turn the heat to medium and let it cook on the stove for about 4-5 minutes.

Making the Chex Mix Glaze

4. Take heated mixture and pour into the bowl of mix and toss the Chex mix around to try to coat all of them with the sauce mixture.

Glazing the Chex Mix

5. Pour out the Chex mix into the two half tray sheets, dividing equally. Spread out into one thin layer on each sheet.
6. Put into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
7. After 15 minutes, sprinkle on the furikake on both trays and stir mixture around to evenly coat with furikake. Continue to bake for another 15 minutes.

Sprinkling Furikake and Turning the Chex Mix

8. Take the mix out every 15 minutes to stir and bake for about 1-1.5 hours total.
9. Remove from oven and let cool, stirring one final time to break up pieces that are sticking together in a large clump. Once cool, store the mix in Ziploc bags or large air-tight containers. Or alternately, divide them into smaller batches to fill for individual gifts.