Boy Bawang Cornick – Hot Garlic Flavor
Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Sour/Tangy: ✰✰✰✰✰
Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Corn, garlic, chili, umami, savory, earthy
Texture: Crunchy and crispy
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: Fried Corn, Vegetable Oil (Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, and Palm Olein), Iodized Salt, Monosodium Glutamate (as flavor enhance) (E621), Garlic Powder, Sugar, Chili Powder, Disodium 5′-ribonucleotides (as flavor enhancer) (E635), and Natural Chili Flavor
Cornick is a popular Filipino snack food made from fried corn kernels, similar to Corn Nuts in the USA but crispier and with a lighter texture. Boy Bawang, literally “Garlic Boy” is a popular brand and comes in a variety of flavors. This Hot Garlic Flavor caught my attention as I’m a fan of both garlic and heat.
The ingredients are similar to what you’ll find in corn nuts – fried corn, oil, and seasonings. In this case there are fried garlic chips (always great to see real garlic), MSG (popular in many snack foods as an umami and craveability booster), garlic powder, chili powder, and some sugar (Filipinos do seem to like some sweetness in their foods, as I discovered when I reviewed their UFC Hot Sauce previously). Something that pops out as a bit of a scary-looking ingredient is Disodium 5′-ribonucleotides.
What it actually is however is a combination of disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate. Those aren’t super familiar to most people either, but they’re complimentary umami boosters for MSG. Both have very weak umami effects on their own but when combined with MSG there’s a synergistic effect that gives a greater umami sensation than the sum of the parts. While inosinate and guanylate used in foods are typically derived from industrial bacterial fermentation, the compounds also exist naturally – inosinate is common in fish and meats while guanylate is common in mushrooms. One of the few ingredients that contains glutamate, inosinate, and guanylate is Nori seaweed – one of the reasons it’s such a major umami powerhouse and used in maki rolls where it enhances the other flavors, as well as being a great snack on its own.
In terms of flavor the corn comes through first followed by the garlic in Boy Bawang Cornick Hot Garlic Flavor. There’s more corn flavor than I usually get from corn nuts, think those partially popped kernels at the bottom of a popcorn bag but with a crispier lighter texture. The garlic flavor is very natural and robust. The chili flavor comes in in the background but still has a good presence. These are quite mild but do have a gentle building heat. The umami additives do have their intended effect and these do have a very satisfying savory element. It’s enhanced even more when you get one of the garlic chips inside the back in with your handful of corn kernels, which gives an earthy pungent addition.
I’m happy to recommend Boy Bawang Cornick Hot Garlic Flavor. While this is super cheap in the Philippines it can be purchased via Amazon in the USA for what’s still a reasonable price by our standards. If you’re looking for a unique snack and you love garlic and a bit of heat this can’t be beat.
