How to Fix Common Problems with Making Chin-Chin (FAQs & My Answers)
What ingredient makes Chin-Chin soft? Eggs, baking powder and butter work together to make ChinChin soft, as they add moisture and air to the batter.
What ingredient makes Chin-Chin Crunchy? Baking powder and eggs contribute to making ChinChin crunchy. I explained how they do that down below in the section ‘What Ingredient Makes Chin Chin Soft, Crunchy or Crisp?‘
What ingredient adds flavour to ChinChin? Milk, Butter and Eggs make ChinChin to have nice flavour. Optional ChinChin flavouring ingredients include: nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa powder for chocolate flavoured ChinChin, and grounded pepper for hot spicy ChinChin flavour.
Can I bake my ChinChin instead of frying? Yes, you can bake ChinChin instead of frying it. In the previous page, you can see a Video and written-steps of how to make oven-baked ChinChin.
Is MiniMie ChinChin baked or Fried? MiniMie ChinChin has the mouthfeel and texture of oven-baked ChinChin.
Why is my Chin-Chin too soft and crumbly? Maybe you used too much butter.
Why did my Chin Chin soak oil? Maybe (a) you did not use enough oil during frying, OR (b) the oil was not hot enough before you added the raw ChinChin (batter), OR maybe you were frying too many ChinChin at once (i.e. overcrowded frying-pot); OR maybe you were frying at very low heat.
Why is my Chin-Chin Bubbling/ Foaming while Frying? Maybe (i) the frying-pot was too small pot for the quantity of ChinChin you added, causing your oil to spill over during frying; OR (ii) maybe there’s margarine in your ChinChin ingredient.
HOW TO PREVENT CHIN-CHIN FROM SOAKING OIL: Ensure to wait for the oil to heat properly; and if unsure, test by throwing in one ChinChin piece instead of throwing in a full batch for frying. (ii) Fry your ChinChin in plenty of oil, preferably in a deep frying pot instead of a shallow frying pan. (iii) Fry a small batch of ChinChin at a time. Add a few raw ChinChin at a time, so that there’s enough space for the ChinChin to fry properly and be easily stirred and turned.
Can I preserve Chin Chin in the fridge? Yes, you can store your fried or baked ChinChin in the fridge to keep it fresh. Note that ChinChin can also be preserved without a fridge, by storing it in an air-tight container and kept in a cool, dry place.
What is Chin Chin? Chin-Chin is a popular Nigerian street snack made of Flour, Baking Powder, Sugar, Milk, and Eggs. It is also popular across West Africa.
Extra Tips for Making Perfect Chin Chin Every Time
I love snacking at Chin-Chin, and I like them crunchy on the outside and crumbly on the inside but it took a few trial and error before I was able to start making the perfect Chin-Chin. First time I made Chin-Chin it was rock hard, and at other times the Chin-Chin were crumbly on the outside, nearly melting inside the frying oil.
After many tries and fails, my Chin-Chin making skills got better. So, there’s hope for you if the Chin-Chin you make have not been coming out the way you want. In this section I’ll touch on common problems you may have experienced when making Chin-Chin and I’ll explain how to fix or avoid them.
What Ingredient Makes Chin Chin Soft, Crunchy or Crisp?
How do you prefer your chin chin – hard or soft, or in the middle? I like mine to be crunchy and not too soft, not too hard.
If you know which ingredient makes chin chin to be soft, crunchy and crispy, then you can choose to add or skip a particular ingredient whenever you want to make some type of chin chin (strong/ hard or soft) – whether for personal chops or for sale.
For example, if you don’t want a soft chin chin, if you know the exact ingredient that makes Chin Chin soft, you can choose to skip it or reduce the quantity. Similarly, if you know the particular ingredient responsible for crunchiness, you can choose to vary the quantity or skip it, depending on how crunchy you want the chin chin or whether you don’t want it crunchy.
SHORT ANSWER: When egg and baking powder are used together, they make chin chin to be soft. Specifically, egg makes Chin Chin moist, while the job of baking powder is to make it crunchy.
Therefore, if you don’t like soft chin chin, do this: either reduce the quantity of egg(s), or reduce the quantity of baking powder or reduce the quantity or both. Or don’t use either or both ingredients.
The main difference between chin chin with and without egg and baking powder is not in the taste but in the mouthfeel (how it feels in the mouth).
Below is a more detailed explanation on how each Chin Chin ingredient affects the texture and mouthfeel of fried or baked chin chin. Please read the answers in the questions A to D below to understand for yourself, and to avoid asking me question of what is already answered here.
THE ANSWERS & FULL EXPLANATION (below):
a) What does baking powder do in chin chin?
Baking powder is a raising/ rising agent. So, it makes chin chin batter to rise and increase in volume, making the chin chin to feel light and airy. Baking powder creates small air bubbles inside fried chin chin, resulting in a lighter, crispier and crunchier snack.
If you don’t put baking powder, your chin chin will still come out well in flavour/ taste BUT it will feel different in the mouth (i.e. mouthfeel). Without baking powder, chin chin texture will be dry and hard/ rocky/ crackly mouthfeel (not crunchy) when you bite into them.
That’s different from the sponge-like crunchiness in every bite of chin chin made using baking powder. Without baking powder, there’ll be no air bubbles/ lift/ rise inside the chin chin dough (which is the work of baking powder).
b) What do Eggs do in chin chin?
Egg adds moisture which will make your chin chin soft and gives it a richer flavour. In addition to that, egg also acts as glue to bind/ join all different ingredients together and also improves the overall appearance of fried chin chin. Finally, egg boosts the nutritional/ health value of your chin chin.
If you don’t put egg in your ingredients, your chin chin will turn out to be dry and strong/ hard. Without eggs, your Chin Chin will feel crackly (not crunchy) when you take a bite.
c) What does Milk do in Chin Chin?
Milk adds extra flavour, extra moisture and softness. Ultimately giving an improved mouthfeel/ crumby feel in the mouth when you bite into chin chin. It also improves the nutritional/ health value of your chin chin.
Milk is not as important as the other Chin Chin ingredients – it is nice to have but can be skipped. Without milk, your chin chin texture and taste will still be fine. Therefore, milk can be replaced with water or any other liquid.
d) What does Butter do in Chin Chin?
Butter gives it a richer flavour and an improved texture/ extra softness. Too much butter will make your fried or baked chin chin to be crumbly and scatter (not hold together) during frying. Also, excess butter will cause your Chin Chin to soak oil (become greasy) during frying.
Can you use vegetable oil instead of butter? Yes, you can replace oil with the same quantity of melted butter that the recipe calls for. For example, if the recipe says to use 2 tablespoons of melted butter, you can substitute that with two tablespoons of vegetable oil. (Source)
Can you use butter instead of margarine? Yes.
The difference between margarine and butter: margarine is made from vegetable oils, while butter is made from dairy/ milk fat.
WHY YOUR OIL IS FOAMING WHEN FRYING CHIN-CHIN & WHAT TO DO?
Every woman has experienced foaming oil when frying one thing or the other. Foaming oil cannot be fixed by topping-up with new oil. If you know the possible causes of foaming oil, you’ll be able to stop or reduce it next time. Read below for answers:
Why your oil is bubbling could be due to one or more of the following reasons:
- Maybe you dusted too much flour on the Chin Chin batter when rolling and cutting. If so, next time, sprinkle less flour on the dough when getting it ready for cutting.
- Maybe the oil is bad or contaminated and needs to be changed, not topped off.
- Maybe the oil has been re-used too many times and now worn-out, and is now screaming ‘change me, change me’.
- Maybe the oil contains particles which could be causing the foaming, and the oil needs to be filtered to get it clean. Oil tends to get dry burnt crumbs leftover after every frying-batch.
- Maybe the last food or snack you fried in that oil is causing the oil to bubble. Some types of food, fatty meat and batter containing a significant amount of eggs or milk cause oil to foam when frying. If that oil is re-used, it will foam.
So, if your oil is foaming, you should check it against the above causes, and then either filter the oil, change it or
Wrapping Up
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There you have it on everything you need to know about how to make delicious crunchy Chin Chin at home. If you tried this recipe, let me know how it turns out.
Also, let me know how you prefer your Chin Chin – are you team hard or team soft? Finally, what’s your favourite chin chin flavour – nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla or what? Comment down below and let’s get the discussion popping!
thank you for this,I made a very soft chin chin and my mom says it’s too soft. I now know why, thank you.
Hi Ruthie, thanks for that feedback. I’m glad you now know what you can do to prevent your Chin-Chin from being very soft.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for this very detailed recipe. I have struggled with getting the right measurement, especially when I want to make a large batch of chinchin. The measurements is everything. I will return with feedback as soon as I am done.
Hi Nne, I’m glad you found our Chin-Chin recipe. I hope to hear how it works out for you.
Enjoy making your big batch of Chin Chin.
Thank you so much ma. I love my chinchin crunchy and soft with vanilla flavour
Thanks for the feedback, Rhoday. Me too – crunchy ChinChin is it for me. Yea, Vanilla flaour takes it up a notch.
Thank you so much for this, it really helpful. I love vanilla flavour for my chinchin, and I love it crunchy, like really crunchy, please can I get a list of what I should use, what I should reduce, and what I shouldn’t use at all
Thanks Rhoda, the Ingredient list and measurements to use is in the above post already. Please ensure to read the post to the end (not just the title), so that you will see the ingredients list.
ma,
I just established a chin chin business. but how to calculate my profit is an issue and also how to package
Hi Sandra, simply write down the total amount you spent on ingredients (including firewood or gas). After sales, write down the total amount you sold. Then subtract cost of ingredients from the total Naira that came from sales. That is your profit.
Profit = Sales minus Expenses
thanks for sharing I love dis as safe me from wasting alots of resources
Thanks, Morenikeji. Let me know how your ChinChin comes out when you make it.
Thanks for this tutorial, i always fry chin chin and am about to fry one now.
I love my chin chin crunchy and soft
Pls, can salt be added to chin chin
Thanks for your feedback, Ihuoma. We are many in ‘team soft and crunchy chi-chin’.
Your question shows that you didn’t read the above post, because the full Chin-Chin ingredient list and measurements is there, and salt is also there.
In this blog, we always include a ‘Table of Contents’ at the beginning so that you can quickly scan through and skip to any part if you are in a hurry. Ensure to always read the post to look for answers to your question, and maybe even learn something new, and if your question is not answered, then go ahead and ask in a comment.
Go ahead and use our Chin-Chin recipes above, then come back and comment to tell me how it worked for you:)
Hope that helps.
Good job ma’am
Please the above listed recipe can both be fried and baked???
Yes, Blossom – Chin-Chin can be fried or baked.
Note that there is a difference in the taste and texture of fried vs baked chin-chin. Some people prefer fried Chin-Chin, and some prefer baked one, and some people like both types. The baked version tastes similar to biscuit – and that’s not bad. There are many ready-made Chin-Chin that are baked.
If you try the baked version, be sure to let me know your favourite Chin-Chin (fried or baked).
And how is my chin chin going to be like by using 250grams of butter f9r 2kg all purpose flour…..I mean is it going to be soft,hard ,crunchy?
Your answer is already covered in the post above (under the Q & A section: What does Butter do in Chin Chin?). Please, scroll up and read to understand that Chin-Chin can be made without or less butter and it will still taste good.
>Also in the FAQ sections A to D above, I explained the exact ingredient responsible for making Chin Chin Soft; the one that makes it Crunchy. I also explained the ingredients that will make Chin Chin hard if they are not present.
Bullet number D FAQ above is about Butter in Chin Chin, and there you will find answer to how you Chin Chin will taste with too much or too little butter. Bullet number A and B talks about the ingredients that if not added, your Chin Chin will be hard.
Please scroll up and read the FAQs (a to d) part of the post above for your answers and let me know if you still have questions.
Thank you so much for the tutorial .I’m grateful.
Please can I use 250grams of butter or magarine for 2kg all purpose flour?
Yes, you can.
Thanks so much Ma.
I love your chinchin tutorial. I’ve been searching for this long time now.
Ma, am a student and would want to start a chinchin business but scared(about measurements and equipments to use) cos I’ve not made chinchin before.
Hello Treasure. Thanks for your feedback. I am happy that you finally landed here and found our Chin-Chin tutorial.
Use the measurements in my ChinChin tutorial above and make some for yourself first. Try it 3 times and come back to tell me how it turned out. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake – it will be fine. Just save this page and come back to watch again and take notes when making your first and second ChinChin snacks.
Here’s my advice for you: start small, and test out recipes inside tutorials like the ChinChin above. Don’t start a ChinChin business yet until you have made ChinChin a few times for yourself and family members.
Stop waiting till you have everything and start doing it. After reading/ watching a snacks tutorial, go and buy the ingredients listed in that tutorial and do it.
Start by making chin-chin with 1 or 2 cups of flour for 1 or 2 persons at home, and do it a few times until you are comfortable and can do it without looking at a tutorial.
Let me know how it goes.
Very educative and we’ll explained. Although I’ve been into chin chin business for a while now, learning is a continuous process. ♥️♥️
Thanks, Olusola.
You’re right – we learn every day.
Been looking for a post like this all my life, u just saved me. Thanks for sharing.♥️
Aww! Thanks for the feedback, Victoria. I am so glad you found my Chin-Chin recipe.
Let me know how the recipe comes out for you.
Am so bless with this tutorial
May God Almighty bless with more wisdom.
I will try mine although I have not fry Chin Chin before
Thanks, Grace. The answer is in this post (above) – please read again. In the above article I listed some customary gift ideas (such as a bottle of good wine/ whisky) for a first-visit-to-in-laws. Please read the article in full – your answer is there.
This is a wonderful tutorial, well explanatory, no confusion, I would try mine and see out it come out
I’m happy you like our Chin-Chin tutorial, Precious.
After trying it out, let me know how it comes out for you.
This is quite detailed and explanatory. Thanks and God bless you.
I’m glad you like it, Temitope. Thanks for reading, and do check out our other wedding/ party food ideas.
Thank you for this tutorial especially the baking part and its well explained
I’m glad you like the explanation, Mercy. Thanks for reading.
By the way, if you love party and wedding snacks, such as samosa and spring rolls, be sure to check out my tutorials and featured videos on how to prepare them and other finger foods.
Thanks for the teaching, i want my chin chin soft and crunchy. And my favorite chin chin flavor is nutmeg.
You’re welcome, Debby. Nutmeg flavour adds an oomph to Chin-Chin and I too love it.
Please can I use only egg yoke
You can, because you can even make chin-chin without eggs.
Hi!
Thanks a lot for the chinchin tutorial.
I have tried the recipe yet my chinchin is not crunchy. This last time I did not add baking powder yet there are big bubbles in my chinchin. It taste good but its soft and not crunchy.
What am I not getting right?
Thanks
Linda
Hi Linda, glad to know that you tried the Chin-Chin recipe.
How soft or hard was your batter (mixture)? If the mixture/ batter you roll and cut was too soft, it would fry to become too soft chin-chin.
Could you try with less water the next time (and let’s see)? Ensure to add water drop by drop until you get a texture like hard pounded-yam ball.
Try again with the 100g recipe (above), and using the exact measurements as listed (no guessing), but add water in drops until you get the right consistency. **It would also help if you watch the process in the video above.
*Next time, add baking powder, as it would fix that problem of ‘too soft’, as baking powder adds texture and some hardness/ crispiness, and at the same time makes it light (and not hard).
Let me know how it goes. Happy shin-chin frying!
Thanks for this well-detailed recipe. I think corn flour also helps to make it more crunchy.
Thanks for that feedback, Olubunmi. Ah, that Corn Flour addition must be a secret. Lol. I have to try it. Thank you for sharing.