Is there a better love language than a home-cooked meal?

Romantic Valentine's Dishes

 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.

 is a dark horse in the cutthroat local chocolate cake arena. It looks less like your 

 Big Al's bakes their cakes in aluminum tins, then tops them off to the brim with chocolate icing.

And that chocolate icing—the best part of Big Al's! Imagine McDonald's hot fudge, or the ganache draped across the 

 of your childhood, but extra thick, super gooey, and deeply chocolatey. Pair that with a tender chocolate cake and it must be what pure happiness tastes like—and why Big Al's is one of our most requested food hacks.

You’ll notice that this recipe mentions three types of cocoa: unsweetened cocoa, Dutch processed cocoa, and black cocoa.

 is the classic, standard-issue cocoa powder you’ll find in groceries, from Ricoa to Hershey’s.

 is cocoa that has been dutched or treated with alkali, giving it a deeper, less bitter flavor and darker color. Some bakers prefer it for its more chocolatey flavor.

 is extra-Dutch processed cocoa with a much darker color and mellowed out chocolate flavor. It's what gives Oreo cookies their pitch-black color and distinct flavor. Black cocoa is optional in this recipe—we use it to achieve that dark Big Al’s-colored frosting without resorting to food coloring.

If you have to buy one type of cocoa for this recipe, get Dutch processed cocoa. Otherwise, unsweetened cocoa powder will serve you just fine.

Chocolate Cake

Hot Fudge Chocolate Icing

Make Chocolate Cake

Make Hot Fudge Chocolate Icing

Headline Title

This recipe was originally published in December 2021. It has been updated with adjustments and rewritten steps.

Big Al's-Inspired Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Icing

This Big Al's-style chocolate cake is all about the decadent hot fudge-like frosting.

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.

Want to wow your family and friends? Make this cheesy baked salmon a la 

Save yourself the headache of ordering from the shop—in just 30 minutes, you can achieve the same silky salmon covered in a rich, cheesy crust. The buttered vegetables complete the feast while adding color and crunch. Bonus: You can make it in your air fryer!

How to make Conti’s-inspired baked salmon

Before starting, make sure to preheat your oven or air fryer to 350°F (or 180°C). For less cleanup, you can bake your salmon in a Pyrex or ceramic baking dish, add the buttered vegetables there, and bring everything straight to your dinner table.

Cream Topping

Salmon

Vegetables

Conti's-Inspired Baked Salmon with Buttered Vegetables

Make Conti's bestselling baked salmon—cheese crust, buttered vegetables and all—in your oven or air fryer.

Imagine two of your favorite things combined: buttered seafood and fried snacks. Well, Omakase did just that when it came up with it's Oyster Butteryaki—a battered, then fried oyster appetizer dressed in butter sauce. We've hacked the dish so you can make it at home; time to say goodbye to boring steamed oysters. (We don't mean that, steamed oysters are the bomb.)

The rice flour and soda water combo is essential to make a light, crispy shell for the oyster. (Not to be mistaken for the actual shell it naturally comes with.) It goes without saying that fresh oysters are a key part of this dish, as it adds a subtle sweetness to the slightly salty butter mixture. Though you can always dip it into the ponzu dipping sauce to balance out the flavors.

Butteryaki Sauce

Dipping Sauce

Fried Oysters

Omakase-Inspired Oysters Butteryaki

Everyone's quick to think that you can never make paella without a paella pan. To some extent, that's true; authentic traditional paella 

 to be done in a paella pan. But it doesn't mean that you can't recreate the experience with a regular pan. This easy paella Valenciana recipe is proof. 

This recipe promises the same well-developed flavors in a regular paella Valenciana. Plus, it also comes with a range of textures—yes, including the toasted rice at the bottom. But the best part about it is that it all comes together in just one pan, and you can get it done in less than 30 minutes.

Stovetop Paella Valenciana

This easy paella valenciana recipe recreates the classic Spanish dish in 20 minutes—no paella pan required.

Long before Italians knew what a tomato was, Roman shepherds made cacio e pepe, meaning "cheese and pepper", with aged Pecorino, black pepper, and dried pasta from their sacks. The dish eventually made its way to restaurants and households as one of the simplest Italian pastas you can make—no skillet sauce required.

Here, we brought the flavors of the Roman pasta dish to an even simpler medium: scrambled eggs.

No need to fuss over tradition and use Pecorino Romano; save it for your pasta. Parmesan cheese works just as well in this recipe. (If you have Parmigiano Reggiano, even better.)

Cacio e Pepe Scrambled Eggs

Like the Italian pasta, these scrambled eggs get their flavor from heaps of cheese and black pepper.

If you don’t want to fry your Vigan longganisa, cut them up and use the meat for this easy pasta recipe. Longganisa needs no seasoning—you get spicy, super-garlicky flavors right off the bat. Fry the meat until brown, add tomatoes and basil for freshness, then finish with smoked paprika for a touch of sweetness. We use fettuccine in this recipe, but feel free to swap it out with whatever pasta you have.

Vigan Longganisa Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil

It's Vigan, not vegan. Toss your Vigan longganisa with fettuccine for an easy, fresh pasta dish.

 is often regarded as a fancy dish, when it's actually lutong bahay in an 

 This recipe proves that making it doesn't have to break the bank—each serving amounts to less than PHP200 per person—nor does it require the low-and-slow method that puts amateur cooks off.

Each spoonful of rice bursts with the zip of lemon, balanced out by the aftertaste of cheesy, salty Parm. Don't worry if your risotto looks a bit too liquid-y after you take it off the heat. It's supposed to fall onto your plate like that. Give it a while to dry out a bit and give you the creamy texture you're looking for.

Chicken Stock

Risotto

Tangy Lemon-Parmesan Risotto

This cheap and easy lemon-Parm risotto serves two for under P500.

Banapple banoffee pie seems simple in theory. But making all those layers takes a 

of effort, from pressure-cooking condensed milk to making toffee to whipping cream to stiff peaks to shaping melted chocolate into curls. All that work will make you just want to buy the cake—and we won't blame you; that's how we felt after developing this recipe too. 

But if you're up for a challenge, our hack gets you a 90% accurate Banapple banoffee pie at 100% satisfaction. You get the firm, slightly salty graham crust, the deeply rich toffee, the thick whipped cream, and the sparse but noticeable chocolate shavings in just over an hour.

Toffee

Graham Crust

Cream

Banana Filling

Make the Toffee

Make the Graham Crust

Prepare the Components

Assemble the Banoffee Pie

Banapple-Style Banoffee Pie

We'd give this Banapple banoffee pie hack a 100% accuracy rate, but that'd be out of bias. We love it 100% though, if that counts.

 has cream, Italian carbonara sauce uses eggs—raw yolks, to be exact. This understandably raises some concerns, so we cook our carbonara sauce over a double-boiler. The mild heat pasteurizes the eggs while gently curdling them into a velvety, cheesy sauce.

 (salted pork jowl), which can be difficult and expensive to source. 

 is mellower in flavor, but makes a fine (and slightly cheaper) substitute. In a pinch, go with thick-cut bacon—we won’t tell the purists.

Italian Carbonara with Pecorino and Pancetta

Use a double-boiler for an Italian carbonara that's as good as the traditional stuff—without the uncooked eggs.

We've proven that cheap—as in P250 per person 

—steak dinners are possible. But it's still undeniable that the higher the price range, the better the quality of steak. So here's a P500 ribeye steak with mushroom and Parmigiano risotto recipe for people who can shell out a little bit more cash. 

This entire spread made up of butter-basted ribeye steaks plus a mushroom and Parmigiano risotto only comes out at roughly P452.67 per person. It's technically mid-range, but you've got to admit that it's a pretty sweet deal and a great weekday dinner for two.

Risotto Mix-ins

Mushroom and Parmigiano Risotto

Steak

Garnish

P500 Ribeye Steak with Mushroom and Parmigiano Risotto

Got extra budget this week? This P500 ribeye steak and mushroom and parmigiano risotto dinner for two might be for you.

If you had to point out one flaw in Cibo’s Spinaci Zola, it’s the serving size. No amount of rationing will make the dip, which comes in a teeny-tiny ramekin, enough for everyone at the table. Good thing it’s easy to make at home, and easier to make big batches of.

The appetizer gets its name from its two primary ingredients: spinach and gorgonzola. Both fresh and frozen spinach will work well with this recipe—the latter saves time by skipping the blanching step. If you can’t get your hands on gorgonzola, use any blue cheese in its place.

Bake the dip in small ramekins a la Cibo, or pour it all into one communal oven-safe dish. Serve at a party with crostini or nacho chips, then watch it disappear in seconds.

Cibo-Inspired Spinach Gorgonzola (Spinaci Zola) Dip

Adlai is a locally grown grain positioned as a rice replacement, with almost five times more protein than white rice and a soft, biteable texture to boot. This healthy bowl pairs adlai with local lato, or sea grapes, and torched salmon. Get the special ingredients from your nearest Japanese grocery.

Sauce

Adlai Bowl

Healthy Torched Salmon and Lato Adlai Bowl

 is just what its name suggests: penne pasta tossed in a creamy vodka-spiked tomato sauce. In early 2020, the dish found traction with the Tiktok generation because of model Gigi Hadid, who shared her recipe online.

This simple recipe starts with aromatics, followed by a sauce of tomato paste, cream, and vodka. If you wanted penne alla vodka, you'd stop there. But our version takes a page out of pasta bake and adds an extra step—we transfer the pasta into an oven-safe dish, top it with cheese, then bake to finish. The result: penne alla vodka, crisped in some edges, crowned with a melty cheese topping.

Vodka Sauce

Pasta

Cheesy Baked Penne Alla Vodka

This easy penne alla vodka gets a cheesy, gooey baked mozzarella topping.

Cyma’s Roka Salata makes for a great crowd-pleaser with the sweet, lively flavors of sundried tomatoes, candied walnuts, and a honey-balsamic vinaigrette. Arugula, tossed with romaine, provides a peppery bite. Make it as a starter or as a light meal.

Salad

Candied Walnuts

Greek Vinaigrette

Make the Candied Walnuts

Make the Vinaigrette

Assemble the Salad

Cyma-Style Roka Salata with Candied Walnuts

Cyma's beloved Roka Salata is a sweet-salty affair of arugula, sundried tomatoes, candied walnuts, and fresh parmesan.

Roasting vegetables makes them sweet and tender. It's a convenient, hands-free way to cook them too, with no recipe or technique required. Chop your veg, coat in olive oil, season, then toss in a hot oven.

Treat this recipe as a template for the roasted vegetable pasta of your dreams. Here we pair rigatoni and sundried tomato pesto, with crumbled feta cheese and basil as garnish. Use as little or as many vegetables as you like, with whatever pasta shape and sauce you fancy.

Roasted Vegetables and Feta Pasta

This pasta recipe combines colorful roasted vegetables, crumbled feta cheese, and sundried tomato pesto for a veg-heavy, feel-good meal.

This recipe has all the features of a solid Caesar salad: romaine wedges, from-scratch dressing, crunchy croutons.

Romaine lettuce has sturdy leaves, making it a crunchy canvas for creamy Caesar dressing. The traditional way requires whisking egg yolks and a slow stream of olive oil to form an emulsion. If you’re anxious about raw yolks, use mayonnaise for a cheat dressing. It’s less of an arm workout to make, keeps longer in the fridge, and is just as delicious.

We offer two ways to making croutons: baked in the oven or toasted in a pan. Oven-baked croutons come out crunchier than pan-toasted croutons, but the latter are much faster to make. Either method will turn out great. And make sure to use fresh Parmesan for your salad—your hard work deserves it!

Perfect Croutons

Traditional Dressing

Caesar Salad

Make the Croutons

Make the Traditional Dressing

Assemble the Caesar Salad

Classic Caesar Salad with Perfect Croutons

At Meat Plus Cafe, a Subic institution best known for their steaks, the salpicao gets its flavor from Worcestershire sauce, Knorr liquid seasoning, and loads of garlic. Double down on the garlicky flavor by using garlic oil to fry the meat. Serve as an appetizer for wine night, or with hot rice for a satisfying meal.

Meat Plus-Inspired Garlic Beef Salpicao

Mamou has been a well-reputed institution for a food experience that hardly disappoints. One of their consistent staple among patrons is their Lorenzo Truffle Cream pasta, a dish that has made appetites dance in rejoice—it makes you forget about the existence of conscious eating. 

factor, unlike other cream-based pasta dishes. It only takes six simple ingredients to let its true flavors shine and make your eyes roll once the devouring begins.

Mamou Lorenzo Truffle Cream Pasta

People are quick to dismiss steak as something high-brow, but that's not entirely true with this P250 steak with smashed potatoes and bacon-chive vinaigrette recipe. While most cuts are on the expensive side, there are steaks that are also friendly on the pocket. We're talking about flank steak—probably the most affordable steak you can get in the market. It's the star of this cheap steak dinner, which only totals P252.01 (as of writing) per person. That's only a little over P500 for two, sides included!

Smashed Potatoes

Bacon-Chive Vinaigrette

P250 Steak with Smashed Potatoes and Bacon-Chive Vinaigrette

It's hard to believe that a P250 steak with smashed potatoes and bacon-chive vinaigrette enough for two people exists, but it does!

If you’ve only had tahong (mussels) at restaurants, they can look intimidating to cook at home. But they’re affordable, nutritious, and very easy to cook, especially if you’re using the frozen kind. Here we toss them in a garlicky butter sauce that you’ll want to spoon over rice. Consider it your gateway recipe to a lifetime of home-cooked tahong.

Garlic Butter Tahong (Mussels)

Home-cooked tahong may seem intimidating, but we've got this affordable and simple recipe that's perfectly paired with a garlic butter sauce.

 with a passion. Their menu of comfort food literally brings comfort, that's why we tried to hack Nono's truffle cheese wontons.

These bite-sized crispy cheese bombs themselves, drizzled with a divine combo of truffle oil and honey, make for show-stopping appetizers. They're simple to prep and present yet delivers a cheesy richness that takes us in a fancy food trance.

Cheese Filling

Wontons

Assembly

Nono's-Inspired Truffle Cheese Wontons

This Nono's hack delivers a delectable dumpling packed with 3 kinds of cheese, then drizzled in truffle oil and honey.

In Korea, locals enjoy soju straight out of the bottle. But soju cocktails do exist, since the drink shares similar flavor profiles with vodka, a popular cocktail base. Here we pair Korea's most popular alcohol with sweet, ripened melon and fresh cucumber, highlighting the soju's uncomplicated taste and slightly sweet undertones.

Cucumber Melon Soju

Switch from your usual cocktail to this easy cucumber melon soju.

Asian Food Network host and chef Sarah Huang Benjamin shares a recipe that marries Singaporean black pepper crab with Italian cacio e pepe. Black pepper unites the two, culminating in a cheesy seafood pasta that will have you asking for seconds.

Black Pepper Crab Cacio e Pepe

Singaporean black pepper crab meets Italian cacio e pepe in this pasta recipe from Sarah Huang Benjamin.

Eggplants are excellent fellows when roasted, and they’re incredibly easy to get some flavor out of. They instantly become deep and smoky just when a little fire hits them directly, which means cooking them is almost always guaranteed to have good or great results.

You’ve probably roasted eggplants a dozen times before, but this one-step marinade makes them sweet, and taste darker and even more like smoke and fire than usual. Just pour hot water, olive oil, and sesame oil into some red miso paste, then introduce the eggplants to this simple rub. Place them on a tray and put them in the oven until they blister, and their skins start peeling off, and the flesh looks soft to the touch. They are so moreish, you’ll probably want them at the dinner table beside various meats, or even as the center of a vegetarian spread.

Roasted Miso Eggplant Steak

These roasted miso eggplant steaks are good as a side, main, or snack.

Ask where to get the best steak in Manila and Mamou is bound to appear at the top of your list. The restaurant styles itself less as a steakhouse and more as a home kitchen, with a menu that runs the gamut from fancy, dry-aged steak to their humble steak rice.

If you have any leftover steak lying around for whatever reason, revive it with hot butter, cooked rice, and a splash of Knorr seasoning. If Mamou's not above it, neither are you.

Mamou-Inspired Buttery Steak Rice

Have leftover steak? Turn it into steak rice a la Mamou.

If you've ever eaten in Italianni's, you've probably noticed that 

 table has their signature Sicilian Insalata, or Sicilian-style salad. It's become a favorite of many, including a Pepper reader who asked us to hack it. This salad has many flavors and textures to enjoy: sweet mangoes, plump grapes, crunchy walnuts, juicy tomatoes. We add chicken for some protein.