Cook to Impress

The story goes that Beef Stroganoff was created by French chefs working for the influential Stroganov family in mid-19th century Russia. But food historians argue that earlier versions of this dish existed long before the mid-19th century, and the iteration we know today is a refined version of older Russian recipes.

Today, you’re likely to find Beef Stroganoff among an array of classic catering dishes at a Filipino wedding, or perhaps at your baby cousin’s christening. Or maybe you’ll find it served at your next family gathering, because your Tita swears it’s her signature dish. Whether you serve it with pasta or rice, this dish is the perfect go-to when you want something homey, hearty, and comforting.

We recommend using sirloin for this recipe. It’s one of the most versatile and flavorful cuts, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. But if cooked wrong, sirloin can end up being dry, tough, and unpleasant to eat.

Sirloin comes from the rear part of the cow, which tends to be leaner, so cooking it right is essential to getting that tender, delicate chew. Keep your slices thin, and avoid overcrowding the pan when you’re searing. If there are too many pieces of beef in your pan, heat can get trapped under the food. This results in too much moisture, steaming your beef rather than searing it! Searing the meat properly helps develop color and flavor, which is what you want in a rich, meaty dish like Beef Stroganoff.

More importantly, be careful not to overcook the meat. When you overcook meat, you risk rendering out all the fat and liquid inside it that makes it tender, juicy, and flavorful. It’ll leave you with nothing but tough muscle fibers that are impossible to chew. The beef will continue to cook as it simmers in the gravy, so there’s no need to cook it the whole way through while you’re searing it.

The gravy should be rich, creamy, and just slightly sour. Some versions of Stroganoff use cream of mushroom instead of heavy cream, or replace sour cream with Greek yogurt or crème fraîche, which can be hard to source at your local grocery store. Ours uses a combination of sour cream, heavy cream, and dijon mustard (brown mustard works too!) to get a velvety mouthfeel, and a touch of that addictive, bright, and tangy flavor.

Ingredients

Beef Stroganoff

Beef strips cooked in a sour cream gravy and served on a bed of rice (or pasta) can be both a comforting weeknight meal or a show-stopping party dish.

Whether in a pinch or on purpose, bagoong works as a surprising 

 It's funkier and saltier, for sure. But with a careful hand, the Pinoy condiment delivers that meaty umami that makes 

 so good. And while we're here, we added two more local ingredients to the mix—chicken oil and grated quezo de bola—to make a Filipino Caesar salad.

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 Instead of anchovy fillets, this Caesar salad uses bagoong, or Filipino shrimp paste. It works 

 so why not in salad dressing? Use a bagoong brand you love.

 Freshly shaved Parm? Nope. This salad uses grated quezo de bola. The semi-hard cheese has a nutty, mildly salty flavor that works not just over ensaymada, but showered over a salad, too.

 Homemade croutons beat store-bought croutons any day. Just slice some bread into small squares, coat lightly in oil, then toast until crunchy. And instead of using neutral or olive oil, we toss our bread pieces in 

—the liquid gold that goes on your rice with 

 Annatto-colored oil will color the croutons a bit, but will still be savory and delicious.

How to Make Chicken Oil From Scratch

Can I make this recipe without the raw egg yolk?

If the idea of raw, uncooked eggs in your salad dressing makes you squeamish, that's OK. We get it! Replace the egg yolk in the recipe with 1–2 tbsp mayonnaise instead and follow the recipe as is. Zero anxiety, same creamy dressing. Plus, you won't need to fuss over emulsions!

Chicken Croutons

Filipino Caesar Salad

Make Chicken Croutons

Make Salad Dressing

Assemble Salad

Filipino Caesar Salad with Chicken Croutons

Give your classic Caesar salad the Pinoy treatment with bagoong-based Caesar dressing, grated quezo de bola, and chicken fat croutons.

Grapes on pizza may sound strange, but all its other accompaniments—cherry tomatoes, ricotta cheese, prosciutto—welcome the fruit into an elegant, refreshing brunch.

A thin pizza crust or flatbread will make a crisp feather-light snack, though you can use a thicker crust (or even toast!) if you want a more substantial pizza. Either way, you get to taste summer in every bite: juicy, bright, tangy, sweet.

This recipe is Grape Pairing 101: All of the pizza’s other main ingredients partner perfectly with 

Australian Table Grapes are grown in the lush Australian soil and carefully cultivated to provide a juicy and sweet flavor, while also being rich in vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants.

You can enjoy Australian Table Grapes as is, or use them as an ingredient in a fruit-forward recipe. Desserts like tarts, crumbles, and Eatsploration's 

 are a given. For more creative cooks, the less-traveled road of savory grape recipes are worth exploring.

Grown in Good Nature

Just like Australian Table Grapes, cherry tomatoes have a sweet flavor packed in small, juicy, round parcels. Both work well in salads—tossed in couscous with a squeeze of lemon, for example, as done by 

For the pizza, we cook the grapes and tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil until soft and jammy. This step caramelizes the fruits, intensifying their flavor.

In Italy, Tuscans add ripe grapes to flatbread to make 

 or grape harvester’s bread. Sometimes it’s seasoned with rosemary, resulting in a crisp snack that tastes like focaccia with grape jam.

Want that Italian touch in your pizza? Cook your grapes with a sprig of rosemary.

Wine and cheese—it just works! Must be because they represent opposite ends of the flavor spectrum. In this recipe, ricotta cheese has a creamy, buttery richness that offsets the sweet fruitiness of grapes (and vice versa).

If we’re talking wine and cheese, you can’t forget the charcuterie. Again, the flavor contrast makes this pairing work so wonderfully. Prosciutto is generally salty and fatty, making it a delicious partner for sweet and juicy Australian Table Grapes.

Experience the premium taste and nutritional benefits of Grown in Good Nature’s

Australian Table Grapes in local groceries from February to June.

Go grab a bag (or two) from Robinsons Supermarkets, The Marketplace, Shopwise, S&R, Landers or Metro Supermarket!

Grape, Tomato, and Ricotta Cheese Pizza

Studded with sweet Australian Table Grapes and cherry tomatoes, this brightly-flavored pizza is perfect for a refreshing summer brunch.

 meaning "mixed rice" in Korean, usually comes in one of two vessels: a regular dining bowl or a 

 dolsot, or earthenware pot. The latter holds enough heat to keep your bibimbap warm while toasting the bottom, creating a crunchy layer of scorched rice.

What if you want to make toasty tutong-lined bibimbap, but don't have a dolsot? Reach for your biggest non-stick skillet and make skillet bibimbap.

While dolsot bibimbap forms crispy rice by chance, a skillet bibimbap does it on purpose. First, spread out your cooked rice in an even layer inside a lightly oiled skillet. You then heat the pan over medium-low, gently cooking the rice until a crunchy golden crust forms at the bottom.

Once your rice is toasty, all that's left is to pile on your bibimbap toppings. This recipe goes with your standard-issue 

, plus a mix of colorful veggies like carrots, blanched spinach, and bean sprouts. Adjust and substitute these to your liking by using different proteins or the leftovers languishing in your fridge. Anything goes, as long as you top it all off with 

Beef

Sliced Cucumbers

Blanched Spinach

Bean Sprouts

Shiitake Mushrooms

Carrots

Bibimbap Sauce

Crispy Rice

Fried Eggs

For Garnish

Prepare Beef

Prepare Bibimbap Toppings

Prepare Bibimbap Sauce

Cook Crispy Rice

Cook Beef and Eggs

Assemble Skillet Bibimbap

Skillet Bibimbap with Crispy Rice Bottom

By switching out the stone pot for a non-stick pan, this skillet bibimbap guarantees a perfectly scorched rice bottom every time.

 garlic fried rice? Give your sinangag four times the garlic flavor with garlic cooked four(!) ways:

Keep a close eye on the garlic while frying and sautéing. Dark, burnt garlic = bitter garlic. You want it pale golden to keep the flavors sweet and mellow.

Now that you have hardcore garlic fried rice, build the perfect silog with fried eggs and your breakfast fare of choice: 

Hardcore Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag)

Serious about sinangag? This ultimate garlic fried rice has garlic cooked four ways.

Looking for a healthy meal that’s not a salad? Go for fresh Chinese-style lumpia, or Chinese lumpiang sariwa: a jumble of vegetables and mushrooms folded into 

 burrito-style, served with crushed peanuts, seaweed crunch, and a syrupy, tangy sauce. Hearty but never heavy, you can enjoy it as a light lunch or a savory snack for merienda.

Lumpia comes from China, not exactly from 

 for birthday parties, there was the fresh, unfried spring roll introduced by pre-colonial Chinese traders. In Hokkien, the language spoken in Fujian province, they called it 

In the Philippines, lumpia refers to spring rolls of the fried (prito) and fresh (sariwa) variety.

What You Need to Make Binondo-Style Chinese Fresh Lumpia

Look for flour-based lumpia wrappers in the grocery or palengke. You want them as big as dinner plates, pliable and sturdy enough to roll up burrito-style.

 uses crepe-like egg wrappers that are thicker and softer than flour-based lumpia wrappers. Use them here if that's what you have, or if you prefer their softer bite.

This lumpia filling has the classic qualities of Fujianese cuisine: it's fresh, meaty, and non-greasy. It's almost a stir-fried salad, consisting mostly of thinly sliced vegetables, tofu, and mushrooms.

There’s just a bit of meat in the filling to lend savoriness (and please meat-eaters). Feel free to use other proteins to suit your taste.

 (滸苔), means seaweed, but can also refer to the umami-packed combination of seaweed and crispy fried vermicelli noodles used in lumpia.

If you can't find Chinese hoti-labeled seaweed, Japanese nori or Korean gim, which are easier to find in most groceries, will work in this recipe.

Peanuts, a prevalent ingredient in Fujianese cuisine, are crushed, blended with sugar, and showered over (or inside) fresh lumpia.

If you're using fresh or unroasted peanuts, make sure to roast them in a pan or in the oven beforehand. It makes them crunchier and more flavorful.

The sauce comes together with stuff you already have in your pantry—brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce—save for one special ingredient: Chinkiang vinegar. Also labeled as Chinese black or brown rice vinegar, it has a dark color and a mellow, light acidity. You can find it in Chinese or Asian groceries.

Lumpia Filling

Lumpia Sauce

Seaweed Crunch

Crushed Peanuts

Assembly

Make Lumpia Filling

Make Lumpia Sauce

Make Crushed Peanut Topping

Make Seaweed Crunch

Serve and Assemble Lumpia

Binondo-Style Chinese Fresh Lumpia (Lumpiang Sariwa)

This Chinese-style fresh spring roll features a vegetable-heavy filling and a flavorful cast of add-ons: crushed peanuts, seaweed crunch, and tangy sauce.

Truffle oil gets a lot of bad rap. Chefs hate it for its synthetic flavor, replicating none of the complexity that makes real truffles so special. Anthony Bourdain had 

 to say about it; Martha Stewart downright calls it 

 abused by lazy cooks as a shortcut to fancier-tasting food.

But fresh truffles are ridiculously expensive, difficult to acquire, and a hassle to store. If you’re a home cook who’s a sucker for that delicious earthy aroma, truffle oil is your best bet.

Truffle oil is available in most grocery stores. You'll find two kinds: White truffle oil has a delicate fragrance, while black truffle oil has a stronger, earthier musk. It generally follows that the more expensive the truffle oil, the better. Buy it in small quantities.

Now that you have truffle oil in your pantry, remember:

 Truffle oil is a finishing oil, and should be drizzled in small amounts right before serving. Heat will burn off all that aroma you paid for!

Every time you use too much truffle oil, a truffle oil hater is born. Too much of it can quickly overwhelm a dish. Use truffle oil with a light hand: start with a teaspoon, taste, then add more if needed. (You probably won't.)

What pairs well with truffle oil? Everything in this pasta: bacon, mushrooms, cheese, and 

Truffle Cream Pasta with Bacon

A drizzle of truffle oil makes this creamy bacon-mushroom pasta taste like a million bucks.

 in this Filipino take on banana pudding. This version adapts Magnolia Bakery's 

 with local butter cookies and a turon-inspired indulgence: chunky caramelized 

 bananas and langka (jackfruit), cooked with a bit of brandy for a fun wink of flavor.

Remember when cupcakes were everywhere in the early 2000s? You can thank M Bakery—or 

The New York-based neighborhood bakery shot to fame after appearing on an episode of Sex and the City. Fans and tourists waited in long lines for their own pink-frosted 

 would jump on the trend and bring it to the Philippines with 

In 2018, Magnolia Bakery opened its first Manila branch as M Bakery. Why the name change? So you won't confuse it with a certain 

After the cupcakes, everyone knows Magnolia Bakery for their second most popular dessert offering: the 

Banana pudding is a classic dessert from the American South. Similar to 

 it's a chilled, no-bake dessert made with layers of fruit, cream, and biscuits—sliced bananas, creamy vanilla custard, and vanilla wafers—in a glass dish. Some home recipes will top it off with whipped cream or toasted meringue. 

How to Make M Bakery-Style Banana Pudding

Every banana pudding needs three things: 

This turon-inspired recipe replaces the plain sliced bananas with something more exciting: 

 (jackfruit) caramelized in brandy and sugar. Sweet, jammy, and a little chunky.

The steps for the vanilla pudding come straight from the source: the 

While the authenticity helps, simplicity is the recipe's bigger draw. The pudding comes together with just four(!) ingredients:

You can find Jell-O instant vanilla pudding mix in your supermarket's baking aisle, usually next to the gelatin. If you can't get your hands on a box, you can make vanilla pudding 

 with eggs, milk, sugar, and a bit of cornstarch.

Banana pudding purists will insist on using Nabisco 

—no substitutions. (Torey echoes the same sentiment in her cookbook.)

Since Nilla Wafers aren't available in the Philippines, we use the next best thing: 

 Any plainly-flavored crunchy cookie will work here. Once chilled, they soften and take on a more cakey texture. Save a few crushed pieces for garnishing on top.

Caramelized Banana & Langka

Vanilla Pudding

For Serving

Make Caramelized Banana & Langka Layer

Make Vanilla Pudding

Assemble Banana Pudding

M Bakery-Style Caramelized Banana and Langka Pudding 

Whip up Magnolia Bakery's famous banana pudding at home with a local twist: butter cookies and a turon-inspired combo of saba and langka.

 has an assertive fishy and smoky flavor that adds surprising depths to this creamy dip. This recipe treats it like smoked 

 pairing it with fresh dill and tangy sour cream.

Do I have to cook tinapa before using it?

Thanks to hot smoking, tinapa is fully cooked and ready to eat. Hot smoking cooks and flavors the fish at the same time, producing tender, smoky, and throughly cooked meat that lasts for months.

If you're still feeling wary, however, it wouldn't hurt to heat your flaked tinapa in a pan before using it in the dip.

Assemble a dip board with the tinapa dip at the center, surrounded with crunchy and sturdy snacks:

Raw carrots, cucumbers, or bell peppers sliced into batons

Outside of dipping, try spreading it on bread to gussy up a sandwich, or adding a dollop over a salad.

Smoked Galunggong (Tinapa) Dip with Dill

There's more to tinapa than breakfast with eggs. The smoked fish shines in this creamy, meaty dip for chips, crackers, and raw vegetables.

You can simply reheat your lechon in a pan or 

, then serve it with hot rice and Mang Tomas. Or you can transform those scraps into a 

—one that's just as satisfying and festive as the roasted pig. Here's three ideas to get you going:

Meaty Lechon Paksiw

In a typical Filipino household, leftover lechon = lechon paksiw.

 uses a lot of vinegar. (The word literally means "to simmer in vinegar".) This non-traditional recipe demotes it from key ingredient to seasoning, lending a mild brightness to a braising liquid of 

 and beef broth. The final dish leans meaty and sweet—add more vinegar if you prefer a punchier tang.

Prep Time: 10 mins. Active Time: 40 mins. Serves 3.

Lechon Paksiw

Lechon Rice

So you have leftover lechon, but how many more times can you eat lechon paksiw? The answer is many times, but let’s shake things up a little with Lechon Rice. This recipe combines pan-fried meat, crackling skin, and shredded crispy flakes, adding tremendous texture to a fragrant base of lechon-spiced rice.

Prep Time: 20 mins. Active Time: 50 mins. Serves 4.

Cebu Spice Paste

Lechon Adobo Tacos with Garlic Rice, Eggs, and Salsa

 breakfast the morning after. This breakfast 

 spread of lechon adobo, garlic rice, fluffy eggs, and salsa 

If you prefer the heft of a burrito, go ahead and use bigger tortilla wrappers. Or ditch the wrappers completely and assemble a breakfast 

Prep Time: 10 mins. Active Time: 45 mins. Serves 4.

Lechon Adobo

Adobo Garlic Rice

Fluffy Scrambled Eggs

Tomato & Onion Salsa

3 Recipes for Leftover Lechon: Paksiw, Rice, and Tacos

Remix your leftover lechon into lechon paksiw, lechon rice, or breakfast lechon tacos.

 crispy pata uses pig's trotters. This cut contains a lot more chewy and sticky collagen that creates a delicious texture when fried.

 doesn’t require you to debone the meat. Instead, you purchase pre-cut pork leg and boil it for a few hours. Once soft, you can pull out and remove the bones with your hand for a much easier time.

Boneless crispy pata is much easier to cook than a whole pork leg, too. With cut-up pieces, you maximize the surface area for the meat to get crispy. However, smaller cuts also mean that the meat will come out drier than when fried whole. So this version will feel less meaty, and much more like pulutan.

Crispy Pata

Dipping Sauce

Boneless Crispy Pata

No deboning required for this boneless crispy pata. If you boil your pata just right, the meat turns soft enough for the bones to slip out. 

 turns the cheeseburger from a solo affair into a shareable snack. Simply roll Worcestershire-seasoned ground beef, crunchy veg, and a slice of American cheese in lumpia wrappers, then deep-fry until golden.

For the dip, combine two burger condiments: ketchup and mayo. Add pickle relish for chunkiness, plus a squeeze of lemon for a bright zip. Serve as is, or lean into the 

 theme further with lettuce leaves to wrap your lumpia with, Vietnamese 

Cheeseburger Filling

Burger Sauce

Lumpia

Prepare Cheeseburger Filling

Prepare Burger Sauce

Assemble and Fry Lumpia

Cheeseburger Lumpia with Burger Sauce

A cheeseburger, but crispy. Stuff your lumpia with ground beef and American cheese, then serve it with a tart ketchup-mayo dip.

Shrimp balls come in many forms. Street food carts serve their most basic iteration: bouncy ping pong balls molded from pale shrimp paste. Chinese restaurants, on the other hand, like to add a deep-fried coating for texture. 

 for example, roll their shrimp balls in panko breadcrumbs. 

 takes it up a notch by using strips of wonton wrapper.

Turtle Shell Shrimp Balls

This classic Chinese appetizer gets its eye-catching appearance and crunchy texture from a coating of white bread cubes.

Cook to Impress

Beef Stroganoff

Filipino Caesar Salad with Chicken Croutons

Grape, Tomato, and Ricotta Cheese Pizza

Skillet Bibimbap with Crispy Rice Bottom

Hardcore Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag)

Binondo-Style Chinese Fresh Lumpia (Lumpiang Sariwa)

Truffle Cream Pasta with Bacon

M Bakery-Style Caramelized Banana and Langka Pudding

Smoked Galunggong (Tinapa) Dip with Dill

3 Recipes for Leftover Lechon: Paksiw, Rice, and Tacos

Boneless Crispy Pata

Cheeseburger Lumpia with Burger Sauce

Turtle Shell Shrimp Balls

Air Fryer Chicken Inasal

Lamb Meatball Curry with Instant Ginataang Gulay Mix

Honey Bagoong Chicken Wings

Max's-Style Filipino Fried Chicken

Conti's-Inspired Baked Salmon with Buttered Vegetables

Beef Short Rib Adobo

Tangy Lemon-Parmesan Risotto

Manam-Inspired Crispy Pancit Palabok

Japanese Ground Meat Cutlet with Cheese (Menchi Katsu)

P500 Ribeye Steak with Mushroom and Parmigiano Risotto

Chicken Biryani with Yellow Basmati Rice

Healthy Torched Salmon and Lato Adlai Bowl

California Maki Sushi Roll

Your Local-Inspired Salmon Bowl with Mushroom Rice

Pampanga-Style Ginisang Munggo with Chicharon

Best Crispy Pata

Korean Grilled Stuffed Squid

Cheat Pantry Beef Rendang Sandwich

P250 Steak with Smashed Potatoes and Bacon-Chive Vinaigrette

Ube-Langka-Coconut Sapin-Sapin Layer Cake

Beef Birria Tacos

Sinigang Onion Rings

Thai Tea Lava Cake

Tablea Chicken and Pork Adobo

Kora-Inspired Leche Flan Donuts

Xiao Long Bao

Fastfood Pies: Apple Pie, Peach Mango Pie, Tuna Pie

KFC-Inspired Korean Double Down

One-Bowl Bibingka Waffles with Salted Egg and Caramel

Ooma-Inspired Hanger Steak

Kahlua-Infused Tiramisu Pavlova

Pan-Roasted Apahap with Browned Butter and Teriyaki Glaze

Classic Cheesecake

Adobong Lechon Kawali

Better Than Better Than Sex Cake

Chicken Provençale with Linguine