Vince Uy has been busy as head of a digital agency that does campaigns for lifestyle brands. “It’s hectic but fun. And since my entire team is working from home, I’ve had more time to balance work and home chores.”
Uy has been enjoying spending more time in the kitchen. “I’ve been obsessed with organizing our kitchen, pantry and storage! Doing so has brought a sense of calmness into our lives.”
In this week’s Food Slambook, the creative director lets us into his kitchen and spills his food secrets.
Food confessions
Describe yourself as an eater. I’m very much a habitual eater. If I like something, I can eat the same thing for five days straight. On the flip side, I can be experimental once in a while (mostly due to my partner).
My favorite thing to eat at home: Anything with bread. I love bread—sandwiches, simple toasts, croissants, baguettes, sourdough crisps, you name it.
Do you cook or bake? I’m more of a cook than a baker. I used to bake more when I was a kid, but I’ve seen myself cooking more and baking less. I’m more of a laid-back cook, I loosely follow recipes and just go with my instincts when it comes to flavors. I also take pride in plate setting, too, and making sure the food tastes as great as it looks!
My specialty: Spaghetti and crispy meatballs with garlic bread on the side.
If I can eat only one food every day for the rest of my life, it would be . . . Burger with a side of crunchy, crispy fries!
One food I will never eat: Innards/offal.
My guilty pleasures: Greasy garlic skinless spicy peanuts and cashews, crispy fries (McDo, KFC), Violet Crumble, Maltesers and Lucky Me! Spicy Chilimansi Pancit Canton!
My favorite midnight snack: A toss-up between greasy garlic skinless spicy peanuts or Nissin Seafood Cup Noodles.
Favorite food delivery app: Grab Food
Kitchen raid
If you were to walk into my kitchen today, you would see . . .
a clean, organized kitchen. Haha. We usually have a stack of garlic and onions on our island counter (we love, love garlic!) and a couple of fruits (mangoes and Fuji apple). I love collecting dinnerware so you’ll definitely see those displayed in our china cabinets. We also love collecting magnets from our travels, so our fridge door is filled with those. I also love color coordinating our kitchen equipment, which is predominantly black, silver and white.
Kitchen gadgets/appliances you can’t live without: Because I like things crunchy, I can’t live without our Hanabishi oven toaster. It’s the best because it also has a built-in panini press/grill on top. I love it so much we bought it twice. Sadly, it’s no longer available in the market.
Another gadget I can’t live without is our first air fryer from Philips. We air fry everything here at home—from bacon to fast-food fries. Our microwave oven is also a must because I really have to have my food extra hot. Lastly, I can’t live without these two life-hack cutter fins I bought from Lazada—a stainless-steel apple core slicer and a professional mandolin slicer, both amazing time-savers when cutting fruits and veggies!
What’s always in your refrigerator? Fuji apples, butter, cheese (American, Parmesan, Manchego, Swiss), eggs, any form of greens, calamansi (we love calamansi juice!), Cartel’s buko ice cream, frozen berries, squid balls, bacon, salmon, chicken breasts, bangus are always stocked in our fridge/freezer.
What’s always in your pantry? All the basic necessities and the usual junk food treats. I like to try different juices, soda and chips so I make sure to stock up on our faves and new finds, as well.
Favorite . . .
Bread: Wildflour baguette and croissant, 28 Derby sourdough loaf, Pan de Manila pan de sal Cheese: Cartel’s Semi Curado Manchego, shaved Parmesan cheese, any cheese pimiento brand (currently snacking on Sunset and Pie by Aggy), Philadelphia cream cheese
Butter: Anything Comer y Comic
Milk: Arla Lowfat Milk
Coffee: Nespresso (current faves are Colombia and Indonesia), Café Du Monde coffee and chicory
Rice: We actually mix adlai and quinoa as rice substitute
Pasta: Barilla lasagna, penne, spaghetti, we also use Ladang Lima’s veggie kale noodles as pasta
Cereal: Quaker Simply Granola with oats, honey, raisins and almonds
Catsup: Del Monte Tomato KetchupMayo: Hellmann’s low-fat mayonnaise and our fave recent discovery, Chosen Foods avocado oil-based Harissa Mayo
Fruits: Fuji apples, Driscoll’s strawberries, oranges, calamansi, lemons, bananas
Veggies: Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, bok choy, corn, potatoes, Romaine/Batavia lettuce, French beans, carrots, Brussels sprouts (if available), Japanese cucumber, Indian eggplants
Herbs and spices: Black pepper, turmeric, ginger, garam masala, togarashi, Everything but the Bagel seasoning, Slap Yo Mama Cajun seasoning, tarragon, garlic powder/salt, Italian seasoningBacon/hotdog/sausage/ham: Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog, Italian garlic sausage, Hungarian sausage, Purefoods Classic Honeycured Bacon, JH organic longganisaCooking oil: Magnolia Nutri-Oil coconut vegetable oil, Lee Kum Kee sesame oil, Bertolli olive oilSoy sauce: Low-sodium Kikkoman
Vinegar: Datu Puti, Basimatsi, Bertolli balsamic vinegarCanned products: Low-sodium Spam, Libby’s Vienna sausage, Campbell’s chicken soup, Delimondo garlic and chili corned beefFrozen food: DECS squid balls and hakaw, Steven’s Choice Radish Cake, Stock at Home’s cheesy spinach dip, SMH bean curd prawn roll, Nathaniel’s Frozen Buco Pandan Salad
Snacks: Fritos Original Corn Chips, Argente Natur Fitness and Delicatessen Artisan Potato Chips from S&R, Blue Kitchen’s spicy garlic peanuts, roasted cashews
Chocolates/candy: Violet Crumble (regular and dark), Maltesers, Theo & Philo’s Dark Chocolate, Hawaiian Host Macadamia Nuts, Cebu Best Mango Chocolate
Cake: Costa Brava Ube Cake and Dulcelin’s Frozen Mango Torte
Ice cream: Cartel’s buko and Ferrero ice cream, Lindy’s Italian Ice strawberry, Halo Top dark chocolate, Grom strawberry sorbet
Drinks: The Berry Company Peach White Tea, Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng/Honey, Marks & Spencer Sparkling British Elderflower Presse, Tipco Coconut Water, Coke with Coffee, Dr. Pepper, Rite ’n Lite Cucumber
