Franco Laurel will soon be back on set to shoot a new teleserye for ABS-CBN called “The Broken Marriage Vow.”
“It’s the Filipino adaptation of ‘Doctor Foster’ (United Kingdom) and ‘The World of the Married’ (Korea),” he told Lifestyle.
Since March 2020, the actor, 48, had been working from home, “taking care of the family.”In this week’s Food Slambook, Laurel takes us into his kitchen.
Food confessions
Describe yourself as an eater. I love food! I really love to eat! But as I got older, I became more conscious of what I put in my body for health reasons. I have not had beef, pork, lamb for almost 10 years now. I have also taken out gluten and dairy products from my diet. I try to avoid anything with refined sugar. I don’t eat potato, eggplant and I also try to avoid peanuts.
What’s your favorite thing to eat at home? I love eating everything my wife Ayen cooks. She knows I love her cooking so much that she modified her recipes based on my dietary restrictions, and she has been doing everything to perfection.
Do you cook? I do. I describe myself as “a cook whatever you have in the refrigerator/freezer/pantry” cook. I don’t measure my ingredients. I usually do it based on taste. I think of what will go well with whatever dish I am cooking that day and I just put it all together.
What’s your specialty? I love cooking all kinds of sotanghon and making chicken spreads using organic ingredients. If you can only eat one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Sotanghon with chicken!
What’s one food you will never eat? Balut
What’s your guilty pleasure? Chicharong balat ng manok (crispy chicken skin)
What’s your favorite midnight snack? I try not to eat after 10:30 p.m. but if I have to give in, I love Honest Junk’s cheese barks (nondairy) and their carrot cake and cocoa nib cookies.
Favorite food delivery app/service: Pick-A-Roo! Almost everything is there!
Kitchen raid
If we were to walk into your kitchen today, what would we see? Ayen dedicated a corner for me with my stock of gluten-free and dairy-free products.
What are kitchen gadgets/appliances you can’t live without? I can’t live without my Nutribullet for my smoothies, and my food processor. It saves so much time using them when I do my prep work.
What’s always in your refrigerator? Fresh fruits, True Tea iced tea, dark chocolate, nondairy butter, oat milk, coconut milk
What’s always in your pantry? Sotanghon noodles, chicken stock, gluten-free products.
Favorite . . .
Butter: Chilled Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread Soy-Free Dairy-Free
Milk: Oat Milk by Oat-Ly
Rice: Black and brown rice
Pasta: Cadia Brown Rice pasta products from Healthy Options and Skinny Carbs from 7 Grains Pantry
Cereal: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oatmeal
Catsup: UFC Banana Catsup
Mayo: Follow Your Heart Reduced Fat Vegenaise
Fruits: Cherries
Veggies: Lettuce
Herbs and spices: Everything from Healthy Options and Real Food
Bacon/hotdog/sausage/ham: UnMeat’s Hungarian sausage, Berry’s chicken hotdog, Delicachino’s chicken longganisa, Corner Pantry’s chicken longganisa
Cooking oil: Extra-virgin olive oil and grape-seed oil
Soy sauce: Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce and 7 Grains’ Skinny Seasoning
Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar
Canned products: Canned tuna
Frozen food: Homemade ice candy, Corner Pantry’s chicken nuggets, UnMeat’s chicken nuggets and burger patties, Beyond Burger’s patties
Snacks: Honest Junk’s cheese barks, carrot cake and cocoa nib cookies
Chocolates/candy: Honest Junk’s gummy bears and Auro dark chocolate
Cake: Little Miss Aileen’s Flourless Chocolate Cake with Grapes
Ice cream: Super Scoops Dairy Free Ice Cream’s Choco Brownie Madness
Drinks: True Tea iced tea
Other favorites: My daughter Mariella’s Golden Dough PH’s cookies! INQ