6 Tigpipisong Chichirya We’ve All Eaten at Some Point

With all this pressure to look good and eat healthy, we know that most of you (and that’s including this writer) would rather stay at home and eat liempo than go for a jog and have a salad. Having said that, we’re sure that with the ubiquitous sari-sari store, junk foods are always within reach. And, boy, aren’t they hard to resist. In honor of our failed diets and halfhearted attempts at getting fit, here are some of the most affordable chichirya we all devoured at some point in our lives.

6. Sunshine

Sunshine, as described in its pocket-sized package, contains crunchy green peas – green peas with crispy shells. It’s one of those chichiryas you’d hardly notice eating a lot of. By the time you’re aware, you’d gone through a dozen.

5. Tattoos

These thin, crispy, cheesy chips are so addicting, they should be illegal. It’s so laced with salt and MSG, your tongue would eventually feel sore after five packs of these babies. The smiling cow on its package assures us, though, that everything will be all right.

4. Lumpia Shanghai

I still don’t get why it’s named as such especially since it tastes nothing like a lumpiang shanghai. The only close resemblance to the Chinese food is the tubular shape of this chichirya. Other than that, the naming choice is way off. Regardless, this trio of cheese tubes is deliciously messy and doesn’t need ketchup or sweet-and-sour sauce.

3. Cheepee

Not to be confused with the other similarly pronounced chichirya, Cheepee is a personal favorite. It’s so satisfyingly salty and corny. And it smells wonderful! Quite strong, but wonderful.

2. Sweet Corn

A corn snack that claims it’s corn-flavored. I’m not sure it is, but I am sure it’s delicious. These tiny balls of supposedly corn puffs sprinkled with artificial cheese flavorings can get you through meryenda. Pair it with soft drinks, and you’re solve!

1. Pompoms

And last but certainly not the least: the immortal, classic Pompoms. It used to be sold 2 for 1 peso, but it’s piso, isa now. It’s like the pang-masa version of Cheeze Curls, only more cheesy and more orange-y in color. It disappeared from our suking sari-sari store for sometime but it returned with the same tasty goodness of my childhood. Hooray!

Do you still snack on these chichiryas? What’s your favorite?

^{*Photos belong to their respective owners}