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Puffed cereal gives
okoshi its crunch

The Rice Krispie Treat has a counterpart in the Japanese repertoire, a snack that's just as crunchy and as easy to make.

It's called okoshi, and it's made with puffed wheat or rice cereal. This is not Rice Krispies, but another dry cereal -- the common brand is Quaker Oats. The cereal is a little like puffed rice on steroids -- bigger and fatter.

Brittany Kaleo-Castillo e-mailed in search of an okoshi recipe. She tried to buy some at the last Okinawan Festival, but the vendor sold out.

No fear; this is simple.

The recipe comes from Muriel Miura Kaminaka, a local cookbook author who taught cooking classes as a home economist with the Gas Co. some 40 years ago.

Also included here is a cookie recipe that uses puffed wheat cereal.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Spread puffed wheat and peanuts in baking pan and place in oven until warm.

Melt butter in large, heavy pot over medium heat; add sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar begins to turn light brown.

Add puffed wheat and peanuts; mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased jelly-roll pan; press down firmly. Cut as desired while warm. Cool thoroughly before storing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter; add puffed wheat.

Cream 1/2 cup butter with sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture. Fold into puffed wheat. Drop by teaspoons on sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-15 minutes.

Cookies will be fragile Cool and handle with care.

Can you help?

Lisa Look is looking for a recipe for Stop-n-Go cookies. Her mother-in-law made the cookies for her three sons and would like to make them for her grandchildren, but has lost the recipe.

Look describes the cookies as refrigerator cookies that taste like ladyfingers, but are colored green, yellow and red to represent a stoplight.

Any clues? Send them here. As always, anyone who can solve a recipe mystery wins a free cookbook.