The chicos that we harvested last week in Cebu, and which I managed to bring some ten kilos or so of to Manila as checked-in baggage, were ripening at an alarming pace… I was determined to find another way to enjoy this fruit besides eating it fresh/chilled. Plans to try a chico pie and even a jam or spread were for naught. A chico shake experiment didn’t turn out too brilliantly (the milk and chico combination didn’t float my boat), but this incredibly simple and rather delicious chico sorbet or granita was a hit.
To make, just scoop the meat out of roughly a dozen or more medium sized ripe chicos, removing the seeds, straight into a blender pitcher. Add some simple sugar syrup and a kalamansi or two worth of juice (no seeds) and blitz this till smooth. Place this in a freezer proof dish and freeze for about an hour or two. Once it starts to solidify, scrape the ice with a fork and repeat this procedure 3-4 times over the next few hours until frozen. What you get is an intensely flavored sorbet, surprisingly not too sweet and yet redolent with chico flavor. If you are a fan of chico, you will like this sorbet. Serve in scooped out “bowls” of chico… Yum. :)
11 Responses
well mr. marketman the chico really looks like yum! yum! i’ll be trying this maybe tomorrow if there are chicos at our local market. :)
thanks!
What an original and exciting idea MM! Would really love to try this, perhaps the sorbet type using an ice cream maker. You are brimming with brilliant ideas, especially using local Filipino produce. Thanks!
first off…hi! im a new reader…and i must say, this one is fantastic! haven’t eaten chico in ages…will pester my mum to buy chico at the market :D
Oh, that sounds just wonderful!!! I wish someone would start serving that.
By the way, I ate at Cafe Bola a few days ago, and meant to try their chico shake. Instead, I decided to try the more unusual star apple shake — it was good! It didn’t have milk, so it was refreshing and not at all watered down. It tasted just like the fruit. I was happy that they used the purple caimito, which I prefer to the green one. I have to stop by again and finally try the chico shake.
Katrina, the chico shake at Cafe Bola is just as good as the caimito shake! Sobrang yummy. It truly captures the essence of the fruit in shake form. And I like their caimito/chico shakes since it doesn’t have milk (I’m allergic to milk) so it works just fine for somebody like me. :) I am not a stakeholder nor kasosyo at Cafe Bola but the way I promote it to my friends and family when we visit the Philippines, it’s like I’m related to the owners! ;-)
Wow! You are great. I am learning a lot from you. Chico for me when I was growing up is just eaten the way it is, but now it looks sexy and yummy.
Here in Asutalia, it is rare to get chico, but there are tins of sweet “Sapodilla” from Thailand which would be useful for this recipe! None of my family understand my craving for chico, after trying the tins,- so I am hoing this sorbet will change their minds!
This looks fantastic! I can just imagine how delicious this must taste…I love what you’ve done here with the chico…yum!!!
Wow, what a yummy way to eat chico! I have not seen a single chico for probably a decade now, but we used to have several trees in our backyard when I was growing up. I’ll definitely try this when I can finally get a hold of some.
Wow…great sorbet!! Looks like a good in-between dish for great dinners!! So is chico sapodilla?…didn’t know that! Thanks MM!!
will be celebrating my birthday soon and i was thinking maybe a chico sorbet or a chocnut flavored ice cream..what do you think?? have not tried making either though. :P