As mentioned in Reason, displeasure with prison food has become an adding factor in several prison riots. But this is not always the case. Several inmates are by far creative and filled with ideas that became their weapon to survival. Inmates do not have the luxury to access good food as we do. What inmates have is a prison commissary that offers very limited food items. Next time you visit, your buddy within the walls, make sure to find out if you can bring them some food items or if it’s even allowed.
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While we all thought of prison food to be stale and blunt, you may be curious as to what these inmates have for meals. While we all know that sloppy joe is a favorite and that they have Friday fishwiches rolls, inmates also have a taste of pizza, usual burgers, tacos, nachos, and others. What caught my curiosity are two meals that I sure do want to familiarize my taste buds with – The Chi Chi also called Batches or Swolls, and the Ramen Sandwiches. So let’s dig deeper.
Chi Chi/Batches/Swolls
Regardless of how the dish is called (which I’d rather refer to as Chi-Chi in this post), the combination of meats and spices had been said to be delicious. The dish is actually a combination of various ingredients that the inmates have and contributed.
A former inmate shared a typical ChiChi recipe within the walls. The recipe includes noodles, sausages, peppers (and canned peppers too), pickles, cheese, barbeque sauce, paprika, and honey. The recipe is quite familiar to Koreans – the Budae Jjigae or the Army soup. But the ChiChi is a dry version of it. All the recipes are cooked together and the result is a yummy spicy meal that all inmates enjoy. This recipe is indeed a creative meal that inmates put together using whatever they have.
Ramen sandwiches
An astonishing variety of prison treats are ramen-based. Ramen is one food item that appears to be constantly offered and generally inexpensive in prison commissaries. The ramen sandwich recipe had been introduced by Andrew Bolsinger in his published work, Prison Spreads 101.
The recipe is a mixture of tuna, garlic pickle, and pepperoni stick stirred in some amount of mayonnaise. The mixture is seasoned with mustard, chili garlic sauce, salt, and pepper. The seasoning packet that came with the ramen noodles could be used too. Watch the video below to give you an idea of how to prepare the recipe.
The recipe and the preparation itself is odd but the outcome is delicious. This recipe is something you will want to try at home with family or friends.