Cornmeal, finally!
It’s something I’ve been searching for for the longest time. I knew it was essential for baking real corn muffins but imported food items, especially those that are not all that popular in the Philippines, are not always easy to find. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to buy yellow cornmeal at The Landmark in TriNoma. I just baked a dozen corn muffins a la Kenny Rogers but I’m reserving that for the noche buena blog section (take a peak) which goes live on December 12th. Now, I look forward to making my own corn tortillas so I can cook some chicken enchiladas. 
What exactly is cornmeal? The cornmeal box says “harina de maiz” which literally translates to corn flour. But if you look closely at the cornmeal in the photo, it doesn’t resemble flour at all. Recipezaar’s kitchen dictionary says it is dried ground corn. Wikipedia says there is steel ground cornmeal and stone ground cornmeal.
Steel ground yellow cornmeal, common mostly in the United States, has the husk and germ of the maize kernel almost completely removed. It is conserved almost indefinitely if stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place.Stone ground cornmeal retains some of the hull and germ, lending a little more flavor and nutrition to recipes. It is more perishable, but will store longer if refrigerated.
My boxes (I bought two!) of Albers yellow cornmeal says transfer the contents into an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for longer shelf life. I am assuming, therefore, that it is stone ground cornmeal. I can’t complain about the flavor — the muffins were just gorgeous.
So, with two boxes of cornmeal in the kitchen, and having successfully baked corn muffins a la Kenny Rogers, we’re having chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight and, tomorrow, I hope to make some corn dogs with the cornmeal as well. And, perhaps, a large tamale pie for the New Year.
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Hi Connie dito rin sa australia wala akong makitang cornmeal. Kasi my sister taught me how to make corndogs with cornmeal dyan last year when I was in Manila. She buys her cornmeal sa SM. Pero here pala sa australia, cornmeal is also called polenta. So baka ganyan din sa atin dyan.
Ang alam ko, polenta is a form of cornmeal — a finely ground cornmeal (see this article). Lalong walang polenta dito hehehehe
Connie, Thanks so much for your wonderful website! As an American living here in the Philippines, I was craving good old fashioned cornbread! I come from the US south (Kentucky) which pride themselves on cornbread recipes (as well as the cast-iron skillets they cooked in) handed down from generation to generation. I looked everywhere for my cornmeal and was almost dispondant until I found your website!
Thank you for helping me bring a little bit of home with me to Manila!
Hi Connie, kung wala na akong polenta, maraming beses na akong nakagamit ng cornmeal at masaya naman ako sa resulta. Lalo na kung gusto kong ihawin yoong mga kuwadradong hiwa na ihahain ko kasama sa sarsiyadong kenchi ng veal… mmmm. Higit na malabo (hindi matigas) yoong cornmeal kaysa polenta, sa aking palagay.
Can’t wait for that corn muffins recipe. And the tortillas as well. Trying to learn some maize recipes for when I shift to maize research in a few months.
Thanks.
Gay
When I read the title of your post the first thing that came to mind was, “I saw cornmeal in Landmark at Trinoma!!” I saw it too!! They also have flour for making pizza and pasta
hi connie!!! fan ako ng website mo…. ask ko lang sana kung saan ka bumili ng cornmeal or saan ba pwedeng makabili… miss ko na rin kc yun e….
F1foodie, ihaw kesa prito? Wow, type ko.
Gay, corn muffins recipe will be up on Dec. 12th.
Kongkong, yah saw them too and I was soooo tempted to buy a pasta machine hahahaha
jonalyn, if you read the entry, the info is in the first paragraph.
jonalyn, it is also available in metro supermart at market,market. actually, they have lots of items there that are quite hard to find in other stores or groceries. the price is also very reasonable. also, i am in no way connected with them.
oh, just a quick reminder- always check the expiration date on the items you are buying, especially cornmeal…sayang naman…medyo mahal pa naman siya.
Hello Ms. Connie,
Share ko lang na meron din Albers yellow cornmeal sa Makati Supermarket sa ATC, alabang. Then polenta is available naman sa Santy’s deli.
Cant wait to see you recipes on tortilla, chicken enchiladas and corn muffin ala KR!
Thanks!
I love making cornmeal muffin, lalo ng when I added chopped jalapenos and use milk evap in a can or sour creme instead. Here in Texas there;s a lot of variety, there is even one specifically for making your own tortilla. Chunky is right, check the expiration date on your pkg. and also check for some little holes in the box, kasi its easy for “weevils” to live in that pkg, parang sa bigas. One time I added cornmeal mix in the corn flour when I made some maja blanko. The “gritty” texture was something interesting.
Hi, Ms. Connie!
been off to comments for a long time. but i’ve been visiting your posts almost everyday. i’m just curious about the cornflour, i just want to ask if this is the same cornflour used in making “sabalangko” or now commonly known as maja blanca”? nakabili kasi ako last time in shanghai ng cornpowder, which went only to trash as it expires kasi di ko alam kung paano gamitin.
and when i was young there’s this conrpowder cooked as “binusa with sugar” (which we used to have as “rasyon” pag bumabaha noong 1980’s, para syang pulvoron pag naluto). i don’t know if they’re the same with cornmeals. if they are… then, i now have use for the cornpowder available in shanghai.
More power!
phynkee, i use cornstarch for maja blanca but Ebba Myra (see comment above yours) has tried using cornmeal instead.
I think this was what my maternal lola used to prepare before. Cornmeal which she uses to make something sweet na kulay yellow na parang pudding with kernel corn pero hindi naman maja blanca. More like the polenta. Sila ang nag-ga-ground ng mais nila. I remember seeing corn, nakasabit sa mga parang sampayan, kasama ang sibuyas at iba pang farm produce.
I’m off to the Noche Buena blog. Trixie is excited already when I told her about it.Mejo mahilig din kasi magluto she even told me if she can choose an easy recipe for her to cook.
Thanks Connie
Hi! Magkano po yung Albers cornmeal sa Landmark, kasi nakakabili lang ako sa Healthy Options pero mahal. Tapos dati nakakita ako sa Pioneer Center ng local na cornmeal mas mura sya di hamak pero di ko na sya nakikita uli. Ginagamit ko kasi sa corndogs and tortillas.
Have fun, Julie.
Lee, 94 pesos per box.
sounds interesting
i’ll be looking forward to it.
I’ve been looking for a cornmeal for the longest time! I want to try this recipe of corn muffins that I saw and that is the only ingredient that I can’t find here. Thanks for sharing that polenta is a type of cornmeal, I saw a lot of that in the supermarkets here. Adding it to the grocery list…
Ok. Thanks!
Hi Ma’am! Added info lang po, para sa mga taga Pampanga I saw cornmeal being sold at Parkson Duty Free for just 71.70 pesos/box. They are on sale right now. I bought 2 boxes for my muffin. Thanks po sa recipe. : )
phynkee – I think what you refer to are those we call here in Pampanga as “darak maiz.” We use to toast that and add sugar as well and eat them just like polvoron. I remember binibigay yun sa mga public schools kasama ng trigo…
Uh oh! Ive missed the fight on the search for the right cornmeal tita connie. Theres really a lot of use for cornmeals since i was young there is this corn pudding, they call in laguna “Atole” really very corn. Here in Manila, they have the baked corn pudding, a better one. Corn breads and muffins, i just love those. I just wish the corn meal donation i got from the salvation army will do good for your upcoming recipes. They’re a little coarse not like the first shipment which was the Indian Head stone ground yellow corn meal. I cant wait to cook your corn muffins tita connie! Siguro tita connie one time you will come up with your own version of the corn tamales huh?
prisiana, i baked a tamale pie a few days ago.
will post it in the noche buena blog one of these days.
hi! has anyone seen cornmeal in any of the supermarkets south of metro manila? trinoma’s kinda the other side of the mountain from where we live. =)
hi, can you please teach me how to make our own corndog at home? the ones sold by muscle beach are expensive kasi. i live in manila. i tried googling online, i’m not sure what cornmeal is. thank you! =)
Tanya, the links and information are already in the entry.
actually, you can make your own cornmeal out of popcorn. If you have a coffee grinder, you’re all set. just grind them to your desired coarseness.
I got a recepi from my co-worker who gave me a really good Southern fried chicken. Mix 3tbs of cornmeal to 1/2 cup of flour. I’m experimenting with different spices; lawry’s salt instead of regular salt, pepper, red pepper flakes or adobo seasoning. Try it and let me know what you think.
hi ms. connie,
thanks so much for cornmeal info. been looking for it for a fried calamari recipe i got from food network.
I’ve also found cornmeal in Market!Market!’s department store. I can’t recall the name of the department store at the moment.
Have you bought cornmeal in 2009? I live right by trinoma and haven’t ever been able to find it in landmark there.
Sure I have. In fact, I have two boxes sitting in the fridge right now. Try Unimart if Landmark goes out of stock.
In what section of the grocery store do you find it…and what is the brand name on the boxes you have…I look and look but still haven’t seen it. Thank you so much!
That really depends on which grocery store you shop in.
Thanks for the sharing this info. I bought two boxes from Landmark Trinoma. Finally got these to use for my pizza and planning to make my own tortilla too. Merry Christmas!
hi miss connie
ka name mo po future wife ko aheheh.. kaso sya bar management and aq culinary 
napadaan aq sa site mo pero dami ko nakuha na recipes na ok 
keep up the good work miss connie 