Popcorn
 

In an attempt to eat healthy, I bought an air popper for popcorn. I got some butter flavor "spritzer" that was near the popcorn in the store because it was zero calories. Unfortunately, it was nearly flavorless (I probably should have anticipated this). If I could do what I really wanted, I would dump a gallon of butter onto this popcorn, but I need to keep it as low calorie as possible. :(

Anyone else make popcorn at home?

I love popcorn.

When we lived in China, the Chinese loved their popcorn with sugar. No one has it savory. Therefore, we made our own popcorn.

First problem was to find popcorn, especially in a third tiered city. There just was none then we found some popcorn kernels in a Walmart however it was totally stale. We asked and the attendant said, they don't know how to cook it.

We ended up bringing back a couple of kilos every time we went home to Canada.

I like putting Hy's seasoning salt on my popcorn. Something that we can only find in Canada however my wife likes those flavored seasonings that are sold at those specialty stores. To me, it tastes too much like MSG and prefer a little melted butter and salt.

Popcorn got me through the cravings for western snacks. Dried squid, dried shrimp, Asian crackers just doesn't do it when you want to watch a movie.

Popcorn
 

We air pop popcorn at home. We get kosher salt and grind it down to a fine dust that we keep in a little tub a d sprinkle on the popcorn when we make it.

Very simple and tasty. Much better than drowning it in butter IMO. A bit of garlic powder is also nice.

If you must have butter, what about just melting a little bit and drizzling it on? Using real butter is likely still better than whatever it is they put in those microwave bags.

We use a popcorn bucket from Tokyo Disneyland and make our own, it's saved us a fortune, particularly as my child prefers the ones we make at home to the store bought kind.

A favourite savoury topping is to lightly spritz the popped corn with olive oil and add a little sea salt and flaked nori seaweed. You can also add some lightly crushed toasted sesame seeds. If you are feeling indulgent then the vaguest dribble of runny honey melds well with these flavours but it isn't necessary.
Nori seaweed is virtually calorie free, and very tasty.

Have you tried mixing a little soya sauce into your butter? Works for us - and black pepper is another option.

LOL^^^^

For an alternative to a gallon of butter, try mixing the popcorn with a bag of arare, or Japanese rice crackers that also contain soy sauce.

If I've google correctly a tablespoon of melted butter is 100 calories. Melt a couple of tablespoons and drizzle over your popcorn and you still have a relatively low calorie snack.

Popcorn is just about my favorite thing

So you got my attention OP with your post. A few random thoughts.

Consider using a Misto sprayer to spray olive oil (a bit healthier than butter). See: http://www.amazon.com/Misto-Brushed-.../dp/B00004SPZV

And as a butter freak, I've been using butter infused olive oil instead of butter. It's actually very good. I no longer use butter. And that's a big change for a 60+year old Iowa born popcorn lover.

See e.g. http://www.chefsolivemix.com/fused-infused-olive-oils/

I prefer to make my own popcorn at home and have used a WhirleyPop manual stir popcorn popper for decades. I usually put @ 3 teaspoons of oil in the popper with@1/2 cup unpopped popcorn. Fairly low fat.

See: http://www.amazon.com/Wabash-Valley-.../dp/B00004SU35

And I buy large grocery store bags and cut them down about 1/2 way to put my popped corn in. The paper bag soaks up any excess oil.

Note: I also go to Asia- mostly PVG - several times a year. I've stocked our condo with a WhirleyPop popcorn popper, butter infused olive oil and popcorn from the states. White popcorn has more flavor and fewer hulls.

If you're interested in my favorite brands I'm happy to send links to their websites.

I think it's now pretty clear that I'm a popcorn purist. Love the stuff!

When it's not extremely salty, I'm a fan. For snacking, I'd want a savory flavor, but if there was a caramel-topped version sitting in the cupboard I'd want to eat it with chocolate.

That said, I think Korean condiments - e.g., doenjang and gochujang - would be a nice fit.

I also have a whirly-pop that I use to make popcorn. For the oil part, I just substitute a tablespoon of clarified butter (doesn't burn as easily as regular butter) for one of the tablespoons of oil and cook away. For the salt part, I either fine grind some salt and make my own seasoned sprinkles or use a variety of stuff (Parmesan cheese, nori, etc) I find around the pantry.

For air popped popcorn, I use the spray method and use flavoured oils.


In my experience, finding kernels suitable for making savory popcorn is easier than finding the type of kernels for sweet popcorn.

I like the orange colored butter flavored popcorn salt sold next to the popcorn in most stores. It's already ground to a fine powder.

I like the Whirly-pop, quite a bit. You can buy packs of corn, oil and salt ready to use, that taste a lot like movie theatre popcorn, or you can buy your own corn and choose your own oil. Olive oil, safflower, coconut or canola, all are good choices. For salt I generally use finely ground sea salt. Yum!

We normally use the following:
Fresh ground salt and pepper (favourite)
Castor Sugar
Parmesan
Bacon (v. unhealthy!)
Wasabi

When we have trouble making a topping stick, we use a little hot oil/butter and put it in a LARGE tupperware box with the popcorn and seasoning, pop the lid on and shake vigorously. The topping will stick and any left over can be scooped up.

I use organic popcorn, pop it on the stove using extra virgin olive oil and real butter with salt. And I love eating it with dill pickles.

I too am trying to eat healthy but that popcorn, oh that popcorn!

Someone here other than me must know that arare (smallish rice crackers) and nori furakake (seaweed flake seasoning) when shaken with lightly buttered (or olive oiled) popcorn makes a "hurricane" -- a staple sold in every movie theatre in Hawaii!

I like to make my own popcorn. I just heat a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil until it melts and then add the popcorn. I top it with melted butter and sea salt.