Variation on a Kiwi classic

After spending most of my Saturday diligently cleaning, I sat down late this afternoon to watch a DVD. Of course, the thing about watching DVDs is that it makes you want something to nibble on while you're watching. Here was my opportunity to make the proper hokey pokey (p220) I'd been thinking about since the disappointingly bland result of my hokey pokey biscuits earlier in the week.

I really wasn't sure I could sit and eat a whole batch of hokey pokey. After the first mouthful or two you tend to start tasting the baking soda - and then you can't eat much more after that.

Luckily I had another plan up my sleeve. When I was younger, I quite often used to make hokey pokey popcorn to a recipe I learnt at a Guide camp. I don't have that recipe now, but it's not exactly rocket science to make it with the Edmonds hokey pokey recipe - you just sir the popcorn through before it sets.


I'd had a little bag of popcorn sitting in my cupboard for ages. I can't remember the last time my popcorn popper had seen the light of day, but I got it out today and put it to good use. I popped about 11/2 tablespoons of popcorn to stir through my half-recipe of hokey pokey.

Hokey pokey is pretty easy to make. The only problem I have is that it always sets before I can get it into the dish - not a problem with the popcorn version! You start by melting together sugar (substituting caster again) and golden syrup. Make sure you use a a pot big enough to add all the popcorn in later. When the sugar has dissolved, you turn up the heat and let it boil a little. The recipe says two minutes, but keep an eye on it in case it starts burning.

After it's boiled for two minutes or thereabouts, take it off the heat and add baking soda. I like to sift mine, so I don't get any lumps in the finished hokey pokey. After you've added the baking powder, you have to work fast, which is why I have no photos of the next part of the process!

Stir the baking soda in very quickly and immediately add the popcorn (if you're not going the popcorn route, this is where you'd be desperately trying to get it into a tin before it set) and stir it through. It's still going to set very fast, so the popcorn pieces tend to be a bit unevenly coated - some will have lots on and some will have almost none.

Spread the popcorn out as much as possible on a tray so it doesn't set in big lumps stuck to the pan. The remaining mix will be rock-hard in the pot by now - a jug of boiling water will dissolve it off.


So now I had my snack ready, I sat down and turned on the DVD. In true movie-watching fashion, I scoffed most of it before the previews were finished. Never mind, it's tricky to hear the movie over the noise of your own crunching anyway!


If you're going to make hokey pokey, I recommend adding the popcorn. It makes it far less sickly and you don't taste the baking soda. Or, if you're planning on making popcorn, try it with hokey pokey. It's much more interesting than plain butter or salt!