Funlasang Pinoy basically is a recipe ideation contest, using Unilever Food Solutions products to give a twist to kaldereta, sisig, sinigang, tapa, and pansit. Out of soooo many recipe entries, they narrowed it down to the top 10 to compete on this day. Out of the 10, 1 was unfortunately unable to compete (though the reasons were not disclosed), hence 9 finalists who battled it out. Criteria for judging, of course, had a big chunk going to how creative the participants were in their recipe twists.
Chef Fernando Aracama gave some opening remarks. He discussed the importance of imagination and ideation in cooking. He shared his experiences as a young lad on how he'd transform food. Even just making the regular pancakes into chocolate pancakes or coffee pancakes already gave him immense satisfaction. These days, it's even easier to give fun twists to dishes because Unilever Food Solutions' products enable chefs to et replicable, consistent, and excellent results each time. All they need to do is imagine, ideate, and create.
Before the main battle, host Tonipet Gaba is with UFS senior sous chef, Chef Paulo Siam for a quick demo on breakfast with a twist.
This is the dish he prepared.
So here we go!
Crackle Chips sells (you guessed it!) salted egg chips and chicharon, and Bicol Crunch chips. The CEO calls himself Chip Executive Officer it's too cute. I bought their chicharon for my family, and whelp, it was gone in one sitting. The chips are really flavorful and well coated, 10/10 would buy again.
Find them on social media at www.facebook.com/CrackleChips.PH and www.Instagram.com/CrackleChips.PH
Kapeng Mainit is proud of their (of course!) coffee blends, as well as their Bibingka Egg Waffles.
Find them online at www.facebook.com/KapengMainit143 and www.instagram.com/kapeng_mainit
Hiraya Bakery is all about bringing Filipino and native twists to the usual desserts. Avocado cheesecake anyone? Or Kamias Brownies? They made me try their Cacao Nub Butterscotch Bar and the butterscotch addict in me wanted to have 100000 more.
Find them online at www.facebook.com/hirayabakery or www.instagram.com/hirayabakery
Golden Duck has really got me excited! Their salted eggs use 50% less salt, so the end result is a salted egg that's creamy and savory, but not overwhelmingly salty. I bought one tray and I ate the last egg today (OK my family ate some of the eggs too don't judge me OK). I can eat one whole egg with just a little rice! Normally, I can only eat maximum of half a salted egg with 1 heaping cup of rice because of the salt.
Find them online at www.facebook.com/goldenduck and www.instagram.com/pinoygoldenduck
I had a great time indulging at Bagnet Rice Patong! They made me try their bagnet meal, and weww so crispy!!! This is definitely the go to place for longganisa, bagnet, and other popular Ilokano fare.
Find them online at www.facebook.com/bagnetricepatong
Balangay's Best is popular for dried seafood. But it's not just because their wares taste good! They're proud to be supporting local fishermen and to be practicing sustainable fishing methods.
Find them online at www.facebook.com/balangaysbest and www.instagram.com/balangaysbest.
Find them at www.facebook.com/lokalitea and www.instagram.com/lokaliteaph
This lovely baby was not affected by the intensity of the competition and was just going about her usual pamphlet munching...
Because when it was competiton time, you can feel the heat! Literally and figuratively! These 9 have finalists have so much to fight for! Of course, there is the prestige of being the first ever winner of Funlasang Pinoy which will follow them forever. And of course, there is the Php100,000 prize, which they can definitely use to jumpstart more food concepts and businesses.
And here are the dishes! I can't say much as the general public was not able to try these dishes. Only the judges were able to try these. Some contestants gave out samples of their dishes during judging, so there's that, but generally, I wasn't able to try any of these.
John Alouette Jugo created this Grilled Sinigang and Sinigang Rice Topped with Kangkong Flakes Sinigang.
Jeane Cruz came up with her own take on sisig and pasta, with her Sisig Pasta with Salted Egg. I was able to have a sample of this, and I was impressed with how two very cuisines could work together in harmony!
Junrey Remiter created his Kalderetang Tinali sa Pancit recipe.
Rossana Rosal entered her Shrimp Sinigang Fried Rice to this competition.
Danilo Puga II created an Octopus Sisig dish.
Christian Lenard Lachenal came up with his Baked Ox Tail Kaldereta.
Miguel Valdez created Sisig Mashbombs for the competition.
Fernando Joson entered his Sisig Parmigiana in this competition.
Mel Adrian Tobias created Sinigang na Sisig. This was the one I wanted to try the most! It looked so interesting, and the concept appeals to me a lot!
After judging, the contestants were called onstage to be awarded plaques of appreciation for their participation.
And while this is not the best photo angle, this is the exact moment Danilo Puga II was receiving his plaque as the grand winner! His Octopus Sisig won him the honor of being the first ever Funlasang Pinoy winner! The judges thought that octopus is generally very difficult to control (texture wise and taste wise), and something that one really just won't think about for sisig. His creativity in recipe ideation and excellent execution on the day itself got him the grand prize.
And that's a wrap for this year! Congratulations to all the finalists, and of course, to the winner.
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