Over the Lunar New Year, dishes like longevity noodles, dumplings, and tang yuan, or glutinous rice balls, get the lion’s share of the limelight. But over here in Malaysia, we’re big on bite-size, festive snacks. From pineapple tarts to tuile-like coconut crisps, tapioca biscuits to arrowhead chips, we’ll gorge ourselves silly as we come together to celebrate the annual festivities. While many of these snacks require plenty of time and technique to make (some even require specialty equipment), there’s one that’s incredibly easy to replicate at home: cornflake clusters.
All that is needed to make cornflake clusters is to melt butter, honey, and salt in a pan, toss in some cornflakes, and form the mixture into clusters on a tray or in little paper baking cups. A 10-minute bake later, and your kitchen will be perfumed with a sweet smell akin to salted caramel popcorn, and you’ll have these crunchy, crispy snacks. They’re commonly topped with rainbow sprinkles for some pops of color, or sometimes adorned with a single cranberry, adding a bit of tang to cut through the sweetness.
I’m not quite sure why these are tied to the festive season—I suspect it’s to do with their golden color (a shade symbolic of prosperity and wealth). And while not traditional—cornflakes weren’t a thing until late in the 19th century—these sweet treats have slotted themselves into the slew of modern festive snacks.
So serve these to your favorite uncles and aunties as you update them on the year’s happenings. (Or on the flip side, use them as an edible excuse to dodge pesky questions from relatives about your relationship status and financial health.) Either way, whether you make them or not, here’s me wishing you a honey-sweet, buttery smooth, joyous, prosperous Lunar New Year! —Jun
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