I first ran into chamoy in elementary school. Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, a significant number of my classmates came from families that had relatively recently emigrated from Mexico. When those kids brought treat to school, it was often imported candies and treats. Back then, they seemed very exotic: chamoy, tamarindo, Pica Limon, saladitos, de la Rosa peanut candies.
It wasn’t that the labels were in spanish that made them seem so different. I spoke and read enough spanish to know what the packages said. Undoubtedly, It was the flavors. The flavor profile of these candies was much more salty and bitter than the candy we normally had. Also a lot less sweet. I feel like the flavor profile of most non-chocolate candies, then and now, is mostly, fruity, acidic and very very sweet. being completely honest, I was never a big fan of these treats as a kid, especially chamoy, which has a very complex, dark flavor.
I hadn’t thought of chamoy until just recently. Presently, it seems to have become a trendy food. Seeing it again brought back a lot of old memoires. Consequently, I decided to give it a shot again. Chamoy is a sauce made from fruit, chiles, and dried hibiscus flowers. It’s mostly used as a condiment for fruit like mangoes and pineapple. So far, all the commercial products I have found are primarily made of salt, chile powder, and citric acid. Of course, the one I bought lacks any of the depth of real chamoy.
Chamoy, Homemade
So, I made some of my own. Here’s a link to a chamoy recipe that I really like, courtesy of La Piña en La Cocina. The following is my nutritional analysis of that recipe. For the purposes of the analysis, I calculated the recipe with no added salt, which is listed as “to taste” in the ingredient list. Surprisingly, the sodium comes out relatively low based upon a serving size of 1 tablespoon. Though that’s the case, I think there’s room to add some more salt depending on what you “to taste” is.
Homemade Chamoy
Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon.
| Nutrient | Amount | % Daily Value |
| Calories | 3 | |
| Total Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Trans Fat | 0 g | |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Sodium | 71.3 mg | 3.1% |
| Tot Carbohydrate | 0.8 g | 0.3% |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.1 g | 0.3% |
| Total Sugars | 0.6 g | |
| Added Sugars | 0.4 g | 0.8% |
| Protein | 0 g | 0.1% |
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