Hits From the Pasalubong

Pasalubong is a Tagalog word that generally refers to gifts and souvenirs one gives out upon arriving/returning to/from another place.  More specifically, and perhaps more appreciated, is Pasalubong of various food items from wherever you traveled.

Luckily for me, one of my many cousins from the Philippines is visiting the States for the very first time and she arrived at my parents' house bearing many food gifts.  Although it's been a few years since I saw my cousin when I last traveled to the 'Peens, our conversation upon her recent arrival went something like this:

Me: Hey cuz! Nice to see you again! How was your trip!

Cuz: Hi! The plane ride was very long and...

Me: Hey that's great, what's that you got there?  Looks like you brought some goodies!

Family relations are not my strong suit.

But I do like to eat! And I'm sure my cousin understood my curtness with her as she happily opened up her luggage and extracted what seemed to be a never-ending stream of Filipino eats.  Don't worry, we eventually had a civil conversation as soon as I stuffed my face with some of the sweets she brought.  And besides, she's going to be here for a month, there's plenty of time for us to catch up and for me to corrupt her sensible Pinoy tastebuds with the zany, bastardized concoctions I've created.

Until then, here's a rundown of the Pasalubong I was able to steal given from my parents:

Bibinka

Bibinka is one of those Filipino desserts that I love, but am too scared to attempt because it seems like it would be a difficult recipe (at least to me it seems difficult).  Bibinka is typically made from rice flour, coconut milk, sometimes macapuno, sometimes cheese, depending on your tastes.  The Bibinka my cuz brought was deliciously sweet and will be a good accompaniment to my morning coffee--unless I eat all of them before morning arrives.

White Sugary Balls

I don't know what these little round candies are called, so like anything else, I just called them balls, White Sugary Balls.  Please people, do not confuse these with my Brown Sugary Balls.  My Brown Sugary Balls are bigger.  Ahem. Uh, anyways, these little white candies are made of coconut, sugar, and the souls of 10 happy Filipino elves (I made that last ingredient up because I am clueless).

Calamay

Calamay are another Filipino dessert made from coconut and sugar and who knows what.  Calamay are very similar to American Fruit Roll-ups, only much tastier.  As such, I ate these Calamay like any American schoolkid knows how to eat a Fruit Roll-up; I wrapped it around my finger:

I suggest all youngsters eat Calamay in this fashion as you will likely be awarded with a cool nickname like "Sticky Fingaz" or "Coconut Digit".  But be careful not to eat your fingers, otherwise you may be deemed something like "Nubby" or "Ringo".

As you can see, the Calamay my cousin brought us were brown and white.  The brown Calamay contained molasses, and was therefore a bit sweeter.

As slow as molasses in January.

The preceding sentence makes absolutely no sense in the context of this post, but I've always wanted to write that phrase. I saw a chance and I took it.  I feel complete.

Chichacorn

Arggh! The crown jewel of me booty!  Chichacorn!  Unlike the other Pasalubong items, I've never seen or heard of this crunchy corny snack food.  I believe Chichacorn is the resultant love child of two other corny treats, CornNuts and Popcorn, as it is basically a puffed CornNut.

I was able to smuggle away two bags of Chichacorn: "Spicy Flavor" and "Adobo Flavor". I haven't had any of the "Spicy" yet, but I've been grazing on the very garlicky "Adobo" flavor for the past couple of hours.  In fact, I am enjoying some Chichacorn as I type this entry:

I like serving the Chichacorn in this squared dish as the corners make for easy and direct pouring into my mouth.  Yes, I could use my fingers, but then I'd get Chichacorn dust all over my keyboard and my chalice of beer.  Good times.

Comments

[mina]

ummmm...sarap naman..."macapuno candy" yata ang tawag diyan sa puting balls...hehehe..

[Sara]

Dude, where the torrones (sp?) at!?

Every care package my aunts/uncles/cousins/random filipino strangers brought with them from back home had torrones and those little mango jam-filled tart things that look like edible boats. I do envy you the sultry looking bibingka though. And the chichacorn.

mmmm.... sodium.

[Erlyn]

Is "pasalubong" tagalog or something? I've never heard this word. Ilocano?

[Katrina]

Bringing pasalubong is such a nice Pinoy tradition. It can get expensive for the person who has to buy them, especially if they've got many (or demanding) people expecting to get pasalubong, but I find food is the most affordable option. And for people like you, most appreciated. I leave it to people like my parents to buy the more expensive clothes, shoes, toys, etc. ;-)

I agree with Mina -- I think those white, sugary balls are macapuno candy/macapuno balls.

Chichacorn is the best! My favorite flavor is the garlic. They're quite addicting, aren't they? Hard to stop munching! Next time, ask a relative to bring you Boy Bawang. It's a relatively new (a few years old), well-marketed brand of cornicks (similar to corn nuts). Tell them to bring many big bags, because it's extremely habit-forming.

What kind of bibingka is that? From the looks of the inside, it's bibingkang cassava (aka cassava cake) -- and looks like a very yummy version of it! I love bibingkang galapong with quezo de bola and lots of butter on top, or bibingkang malagkit with thick latik on top.

I'm interested to hear what your cousin thinks of you Pinoy fusion creations, especially the ube pancakes! That's something that's unheard of here...more's the pity, I say.

[Krizia]

My pasalubong's always include polvoron, pastillas de leche, chichacorn, and langka. Langka?! Yea! :D My family back on the motherland knows what I loves <3

[Krizia]

P.S. "and my chalice of beer"

haha, how refined.

[oggi]

Pasalubong, my favorite tagalog word.
That looks like a cassava bibigka with cheese, yummy! How was your cousin able to bring them in? The chichacorn also looks so good. I must look for that brand in our Filipino grocery.

[Ed]

Pasalubong - Tagalog
Oleh-oleh - Indonesian
Omiyage - Japanese

"How come your suitcases aren't full?! Didn't you get anything for your families or friends?" - Me fuming at the Ngurah Rai airport in Bali after a three-week tour in the summer of 2000, traveling next to Kyoto with a bunch of American friends. I barely made it under the excess baggage charge :)

[shalimar]

i take the kalamay and chicharon, sorry ihave not found you for a while i normally read most members of lasang pinoy but i have been out of the loop for a long time

[Mila]

Macapuno balls :D
Ask for ube balls next! Then you can have a triumverate of colored balls (brown, white, and purple).

The bibingka you got looks like the ones from Ilocos, sometimes known as royal bibingka. They travel better than the ones made with rice flour and red egg. Very yummy, especially on a long bus trip from Ilocos.

And chichacorn! my favorite flavor is the cheese, they turn everything (lips, fingers, teeth) a bright orange.

[Chad Rowdy]

Is bibinka anything like the sweet lemon poppy muffins at Starbucks? I am sorry if I sound like a dork, but I have never tasted many of the things in your blog, but would really like to try them all! I like to read your takes on cooking and your witty banter - molasses in January and chalices of beer as examples - make it fun for me. I like to cook, but usually keep it in the range of stuff I know, such as burning meat on the grill and toasting such successes with a Rolling Rock or Miller High Life.

[Janice]

man, my parents brought a lot of pasalubong when they came back from California...the chichacorn looks AWESOME...i've never had it before :(

[joey]

I love your reaction to these pinoy goodies that I sometimes take for granted! I never would have thought of the connection between fruit roll-ups and calamay, that's for sure :)

I used to love chichacorn, until an unfortunate incident of overindulgence -- I ate myself sick :( Now I can't eat them anymore :(

[Burnt Lumpia]

Hi Mina. Macapuno candy! Of course!

Sara, my cousin brought a lot more but there were no torrones.

Erlyn, Pasalubong is a Tagalog word.

Katrina! I always appreciate the tidbits of knowledge you leave in my comments! Pasalubong is definitely one of my favorite Pinoy traditions. We weren't expecting anything from my cousin, but we all appreciated what she was able to bring.

Hey Krizia. My cousin actually did bring polvoron, but I left that for everyone else at my parents' house. And what, don't you drink beer out of a chalice? ;)

Oggi, my cousin checked the baggage that contained the goodies and I guess that was enough to sneak past customs.

Ed, I'm sure like most Pinoys, you pre-weighed your bags before getting to the airport, fitting just a corner of giant luggage on a tiny bathroom scale;) At least that's how my mom does it.

Hi Shalimar, I'm glad you found me!

Hello Mila. My cousin is from Ilocos, so yes, that is where the bibinka came from. I don't remember the name of the box it came in, but it was a red box, and I'm pretty sure it did say royal bibinka somewhere on that box.

Chad, bibinka is nothing like you will ever find in Starbucks, or anywhere besides a Filipino household in the States. And burnt meat is always wonderfully paired with the Double R.

Hi Janice, I've never had chichacorn either, until now. You are missing out! I always tell myself I'll just have a handfull, and then I end up eating half the bag.

Joey, I know what you mean. It is so hard to not overindulge in chichacorn. I think they must be laced with crack since they are so addicting. My wife pointed out to me today that they are something like 30% saturated fat, but I just shrugged my shoulders and stuffed more in my mouth!

[Rasa Malaysia]

Lucky you...got so much food from your cuz from PH. :)

[Babette]

The other posters are right, it is Macapuno Balls. The Bibinka meanwhile looks very much like the Cassava kind. Chichacorn originated from 'Cornick' (popular brand is 'Boy Bawang'). Cornick is the'unpopped' corn snack while 'Chichacorn' is the popped version. The Ilocos brand is very good. :)
I went back last month for my high school reunion (Silver Jubilee) and bought back a lot of goodies (Macapuno balls and bags of Chichacorn included). Too bad the Los Banos Buko pie didn't make it, no more room in my overstuffed luggage!
Cooked foods like 'kakanin' are ok to bring in the US, just stay away from uncooked meats, fruits and veggies. My mom always brings home some uncooked dried fish, she wraps it up in a ton of newspaper and plastic bags. LOL

[Ruth]

I remember when I was a kid and my mom or an aunt would come back from the Philippines and I would enjoy the bounty... my faves were dried mangos, Turrones de Casuy (my mom grew up in Pampanga), and polvoron. Once my mom brought back fresh fruit that had ants crawling all over them, which even as an eight year old child struck me as completely illegal. I didn't want to eat them because of all the ants and she said, "If they have ants on them that means they are sweeter!"

Found your blog on the Epicurious.com weblog, btw.

[Burnt Lumpia]

Yup Rasa, I'm very lucky.

Hi Babette. My mom used to do the same thing with fish, until she finally got caught! Even though she wrapped it a million times, the smell was still so pungent.

That's the truth Ruth! Isn't it funny how Pinoy mothers have the strangest excuses to not waste food?

[Penelope]

Thanks for writing about all these foods. On that whole ant thing, my parents also said that that was how to pick the right lanzones--look for the ants!

Now I want some pastillas de leche...

[raissa]

I love pasalubongs too. Theres a sweet/salty variety of the chichacorn that can only be bought in Ilocos. Its much like keetle popcorn type of taste and those are the ones I love.

Liking your blog. First time visitor, looks like I got a lot of catching up to do.

[tokyoastrogirl]

Mad props to you on all of the recognition!!! You deserve it. And this is one of the funniest posts I've read. You're probably in a sugar/coconut coma by now.

[Sadia]

"Hits from the Pasalubong."

Lol...

Congrats on the Epicurious coverage! I'm so thankful to have been introduced!

[Burnt Lumpia]

Hi Penelope. I guess our parents know more about ants and food than we do;)

Welcome raissa! A sweet/salty version of chichacorn? That sounds too good to be true.

Thanks tokyo. And yes, I am just now coming down from my sugar high.

Hi Sadia, I'm thankful you found your way here. And I'm glad you caught that "Hits to the..." reference.

[raissa]

Its true and it comes in this big bag with no brand at all. I dont think its being commercially distributed so a bit hard to find around Manila. Okay, now I am adding that to my "bilin" so next time a relative arrives I will have that. LOL

[Jacqueline Church]

I was so happy to see you get recognition. Epilog mentioned mine, too. Don't you feel like you just got promoted to the grownup's table at Thanksgiving? I hope you'll check out my blog and enjoy it.

My mother's Japanese so I know about the gift-giving thing, too. Cheers,
Jacqueline Church
leatherdistrictgourmet (dot) blogspot (dot) com
gourmetfood (dot) suite101 (dot) com

[George G]

I just had Chichacorn for the first time this past year myself. It's definitely derived from corniks, but I'm suprised no one connected the reference to chicharon, because of the frying and the subsequent billowing of the corn, like chicharon does.

[Burnt Lumpia]

thanks for the tip raissa, I will definitely be on the lookout for those then.

Hi Jacqueline. Thanks so much for stopping by. And that is a great way to put it. I do feel like such a grownup now!

Hi George. I actually thought the same thing, I just wasn't sure. I guess anything with "chicha" in the name must be good right?

[-chick-]

I love Calamay! mom buys that whenever she'll get a chance to drop by the market on weekend mornings.. the bibinka's mouthwatering too ha ;D

[Donna L.]

Why is your bibingka recipe difficult? My recipe for "bibingka especial" is simply mochiko, brown sugar, coconut milk and eggs--mix and bake. What am I missing???

[raquel]

hi read all comments i am glad to sAY THAT I MOSTLY HAVE ALL THOSE PASULOBONG IN MY STORE. YOU CAN CONTACT ME AT 9361265.

[raquel]

hi read all comments i am glad to sAY THAT I MOSTLY HAVE ALL THOSE PASULOBONG IN MY STORE. YOU CAN CONTACT ME AT 9361265.

[Yujai]

Hello there, your blog is lovely!

I am looking for recipe of buko pie, do you happen to know where I can find a good??? Thanks a million!

[u8mypinkcookies]

the bibingka looks yummy!

i love the calamay.. my uncle's wife's from ilocos and she'd bring home calamay and chichacorn always whenever she goes to ilocos!

[JamminredheadEd]

The way the macapuno looks reminds me of mochi. Yum.

GTG... gonna try for some ube balls.

[Gabie]

please post the recipe for that bibingka looks so yummy

[Gabie]

please post the recipe for that bibingka looks so yummy

[Hanada]

I could be wrong but the little round candies look like macapuno candy to me. :)

[Heather]

Marvin, have you tried to make the bibingka yet? I did it using the recipe from Memories of a Philippine Kitchen and chronicled it on my blog. It turned out great except at first try my banana leaves caught on fire in the oven. But the second time it was a complete success!

[remy watson]

can you please email me the recipe o f calamay.

[u8mypinkcookies]

i love the calamay!! *crave*