Carioca: My Favourite Childhood Filipino Treat

So I’m half Filipino, half Polish, or Polipino/Filippish as I like to call it and I grew up with lots of yummy cultural treats. One of my favourites from when I was a kid was carioca. This is a deliciously sweet, chewy, and deep-fried treat made from glutinous rice and sugar. The first time I remember trying this was in the Goldilocks restaurant in Vancouver, BC. I absolutely loved it and ate so many skewers of it! I think I’ve maybe had this 3 times total? Every time my mom and I went to Vancouver we would stop by Goldilocks and grab some carioca. The last time I had some was maybe when I was 14 years old? I’m 24 now and it’s been FOREVER since I ate this gooey treat. I was going to Vancouver again and called ahead to Goldilocks to order some but to my utter disappointment they stopped selling them. I was so sad and technically I could have attempted to make some myself but after a failed attempt of making molasses syrup as a child, I never attempt recipes where I have to make a syrup or deep fry something.

Carioca: Gooey balls of goodness

One day at work I saw a bunch of people eating carioca and I immediately had to know where they got it from and they got it from their coworker. I started craving carioca real bad after that and tried looking in all the Filipino restaurants trying to find them somewhere. I could not find them anywhere! So I asked my coworkers who are Filipino and great cooks if they could try making some but they never got the chance… until yesterday. My coworker surprised me with a bag full of carioca she had made and I was so happy I literally screamed. When I got home I shared them but ate most of them myself and they were so delicious and gooey and sweet and I was the happiest person alive 😊 Huge thank you to my coworker for making them! You da real MVP!

If you want to try making carioca click the link here.

Happy eating!