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Furikake chex mix is a quintessential Japanese American snack. Popular in Hawai’i, furikake chex mix is made with a homemade sugar soy sauce glaze drizzled over cereal and tossed with nori furikake. Every Japanese American family has their own spin on the mix-ins. Give it a try and customize your own! *Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links.
What is Furikake Chex Mix?
Furikake chex mix is a trail mix made with a sweet soy sauce glaze and topped with furikake. Growing up in California, all my Japanese American friends and family were familiar with this treat, and every family had their own spin on the recipe. So for a good thirty years, I thought furikake chex mix was exclusively a Japanese snack.
Joke’s on me! As with MANY of my childhood foods that I completely assumed were Japanese, furikake chex mix is apparently from Hawai’i.
But really, can you blame me? This stuff showed up at every Japanese American church event, family party, community event…
This is exactly the same thing that happened with my grandma’s deep fried wonton recipe. Those wontons make an appearance at every California Obon. My grandma had her own recipe she always made. And somehow I didn’t find out until I POSTED the recipe on Instagram that it’s a Hawaiian food.
Anyway, all that to say, furikake chex mix is a Japanese-Hawaiian snack that is treasured by the Japanese American community. Just like trail mix, it’s got a variety of mix-ins (or not). But unlike salty chex mix, the whole thing is coated in a sweet, buttery, soy sauce glaze. The saltiness comes from sprinkled nori furikake. AND IT’S SO GOOD.
What Ingredients do I need for Furikake Chex Mix?
As with trail mix, you will need a base cereal for this recipe. You probably would think that I would automatically mention Chex. I mean, it’s in the name.
Well, you can definitely use Chex. But my family has ALWAYS used Crispix. We just like Crispix cereal!
In any case, it doesn’t matter. Choose a crispy base cereal, whether it be Chex or Crispix.
Next, choose your mix ins. Some options are:
- Pretzels
- Bugles
- Popcorn
- Peanuts
- Mini Reeses
- Annie’s bunny grahams
- Other cereals
Pretty much any snack or candy that you would normally think to put in a trail mix, you can put in this recipe.
OR, you can be like my family and eat it plain with just the cereal! It’s that good! And addicting. I’m literally typing this with mild stomach discomfort from snacking on too much of this stuff.
Anyhow, I’m not going to give individual sizes for each mix-in ingredient, since it will completely vary based on how many you are using. Bottom line is this: you need enough to fill a 9×13 inch baking dish. That equates to about one whole regular sized box of cereal if you don’t add anything else in.
For the glaze, you’ll need corn syrup, butter, sugar, soy sauce, and vegetable or canola oil (something flavorless). And then nori furikake for sprinkling.
I know corn syrup is probably the one ingredient that most people don’t normally keep on hand. To be honest, I pretty much only use corn syrup for this recipe. BUT THIS RECIPE IS SO GOOD, YOU WILL USE UP THAT BOTTLE MAKING THIS OVER AND OVER. I hope my forceful all caps typing will convince you not to try to make substitutions. Just buy that bottle. It’s sold in the baking aisle at most grocery stores, or you can get it online.
How to Assemble Furikake Chex Mix
While making furikake chex mix is extremely easy, it does take an hour to bake, so give yourself some time.
First, in a large pot, stir butter, sugar, corn syrup, oil, and soy sauce on low-medium heat until everything is melty and dissolved. Next, pour in all your cereal plus mix ins and stir to spread the coating. Alternatively, you could pour all your crunchies into a 9×13 baking pan and drizzle the glaze on top of it. Then sprinkle with half a bottle of nori furikake and stir so everything is all mixed up.
At this point you will bake at 250 degrees F for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The baking gets the chex mix nice and crispy after being tossed in that umami-ful glaze.
Variation: Make SPICY Furikake Chex Mix
I recently tried adding in a couple teaspoons of my favorite chili crunch (Momof*cku, in case you’re wondering) to the sugar syrup, and it was SO GOOD. Keep everything else the same! Two teaspoons of chili crunch gave a very mild spicy tingle. If you’re looking for MORE HEAT, add more chili crunch and decrease the amount of canola oil (1-1 substitution) or use a spicier hot sauce. Alternatively, I had one Instagram follower say they add shichimi togarashi (Japanese chili spice mix) with the furikake. Another idea I just had but haven’t tried yet – adding gochugaru or dried chili flakes with the furikake as well!
And that’s all!
This recipe is great to bring to a potluck or party… or just let your kids go HAM on it as an afterschool snack. We used to bring some packed for long bus rides to church camp… Really, I can’t think of any occasion where furikake chex mix is NOT welcome. I should’ve served it at my wedding!
More Japanese Hawaiian Foods
Looking for more foods that I mistakenly thought were Japanese but are actually Hawaiian? (It’s a bigger category than you might think.) Check these out!
- Deep Fried Beef Wontons
- Chi Chi Dango (Mochi)
- Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia Pie Bars
- Mango Daif*cku Mochi
Furikake Chex Mix Recipe
Furikake Chex Mix is a Japanese Hawaiian snack consisting of cereal and mix-ins baked in a buttery, sweet, soy sauce glaze and topped with nori furikake.
4.83 from 28 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr
Course Snack
Cuisine Hawaiian
Servings 8 people
Equipment
9×13" baking pan
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick
- 1/4 cup flavorless oil like canola or vegetable
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
- 1 box Crispix cereal (or Chex)
- Various Mix-ins optional, see note
- 1/2 bottle nori furikake
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Heat butter, oil, corn syrup, sugar, and soy sauce in a pot on stovetop, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat.
Pour cereal and mix-ins into a 9×13" baking pan and drizzle syrup on top (alternatively, you can pour the cereal directly into the pot with the syrup and then transfer to the baking dish). Stir to combine.
Sprinkle the half bottle of nori furikake over the cereal and mix.
Bake your chex mix for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and serve. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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