One of the well known food pasalubong from the Ilocos is the Ilocos Chichacorn. What makes it different from the typical kornik is that the Ilocos Chichacorn is much easier to chew because the corn kernels are puffed. I am not sure if this is accurate, but if memory serves me correctly, apog is added to the glutinous white corn so that it will puff, just like how binatog is made.
I have tasted different versions of the Ilocos Chichacorn, including the famous Boy Bawang, but among all I have tasted, my favorite has to be one with the yellow colored bag, bearing the label - The Original Ilocos Chichacorn, made in Ilocos Sur.
Garlic Flavor. The very first flavor I have tasted. I think it was in 2001 when I first tasted this one, thanks to my Aunt Julie. The garlic flavor has lots of garlic cloves in the bag, although I now find it quite salty, so whenever I eat it, I would put some in my hand and use my palm and fingers to shake off some of the salt and MSG. Even if this one is now saltier than how it was before, I still love it.
Cheese Flavor. My sister's favorite. My sister really loves cheese-laden foods, and even then I didn't like the cheese chichacorn, but when I gave this one a taste, I did find it delicious. It wasn't as salty as I expected it to be, which made it really pleasurable to eat.
Sweet Flavor. I was in elementary when I learned that there were sweet flavored korniks. I liked it then, and I always make it a point to buy a bag of sweet flavored chichacorn if I see one, but I don't know what happened with this particular bag that I wasn't really impressed. It's like eating the sweet corn junk food. I opened the bag before I went on a two-week holiday with K, and now that I just got back home, the container was still there. Seemed nobody in the family liked it either.
Before, there was only one flavor - the garlic one. As more and more companies come up with their own versions of the chichacorn with different flavors, the Original Ilocos Chichacorn has also released different flavors, too. These bags of chichacorn are sold for 35 pesos each or three bags for 100 pesos, and there are smaller bags for 25 pesos. I kinda regret buying the 3 for 100 ones... I should have went for the 25 pesos each so I can buy all of the flavors available. Other flavors I saw (which I didn't buy) were: Adobo-Garlic, Barbecue, and Hot & Spicy.
*** Jenn ***
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my
1 comment:
I live in the UK and a friend bought some chichacorn over from the philipines, i am like your sister and love the cheese flavour most.
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