Boy Bawang

Gusto kong ipakilala sa iyo ang Boy Bawang. Finally get to put my newly learned Tagalog phrase to use!

I'd like to introduce you to Garlic Boy:

Garlic Boy is the cute character on every Boy Bawang package which is the leading corn snack in the Philippines. These are some of the sample flavors:

L to R: Garlic Flavor, Chili Cheese, Adobo, Bar-B-Q, Hot Garlic

This time I tried the Golden Sweet Corn Butter flavor:

It's sweet at first and then a hint of chili powder and garlic which gives it a kick. I like the crunchiness and the sweet corn taste but not so much the white powder covering each kernel that I assume is either powdered butter flavoring, MSG or a mixture of both. 

So far I've also tried hot garlic, adobo and the chili cheese flavor. My favorite has to be the hot garlic, it's the perfect spiciness for a snack but does leave an overwhelmingly garlic smell behind. The chili cheese and adobo (I'll explain what adobo is below) are both very artificial tasting, similar to the butter flavor, the cheese and adobo flavor are also in powder form. Picture eating the powdered cheese in instant mac and cheese... not very appetizing. 

Filipinos absolutely love garlic, I can see why this snack is so popular. Since being in a relationship (he's Chinese Filipino) I've eaten more garlic in these four years than all my years before. Here's my top 3 favorite Filipino dishes that use garlic:

1. Garlic Rice 
Lots of, you guessed it, GARLIC and butter. What makes it so delicious is that the minced garlic is crispy from being "fried" in the butter. It's not as easy as it sounds as the garlic and butter burn easily. What I've learned from our numerous failed attempts: Keep your fire as low as you can, when you smell a hint of burnt garlic take the pan off the fire and keep the garlic moving with the spatula. It's ready when the garlic is golden like in the picture below (I did not make this):

Image via gostjobles

2. Gambas

Recipe (link in image) calls for garlic and spices. I haven't tried making this myself as it's hard to find some of the spices in China but out of all the dishes I'vr tried in the Philippines, this is probably my favorite.

Image via Burnt Lumpia

3. Adobo- means marinade in Spanish and Tagalog. 

I made adobo a few times myself, proud to say it looks like the picture below. I'll post a picture when I make it next time for those doubters :)

Very basically it's marinating chicken (most common meat used in this dish) in garlic, bay leaf, equal amounts of soy sauce and white vinegar. I give it a spicy kick by adding a lot of sriracha to the marinade (my favorite hot sauce, I think it deserves it's own dedicated post!). 

Image via Wikipedia

To jump back to Boy Bawang, the adobo flavored corn snack is supposed to be flavored like the dish but instead it tastes like eating garlic powder. 

The takeaway from this post is garlic is delicious. If that doesn't convince you to eat more garlic, they are also beneficial to your health. According to Medical News Today, garlic can prevent lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, rectal cancer, and colon cancer. Just lay low on using too much butter in your garlic rice!