Now that we are at home 24/7, we have to constantly think of what to cook next for breakfast, lunch and dinner—sometimes even for snacks. To meal plan, one has to think ahead not just because of time constraints but also because grocery runs now are far too valuable to waste and going out is risky.
Ready-to-cook meals offer a quick relief with the convenience it brings. But that too can be monotonous, not to mention high in sodium or fat since more often than not they’re processed.
Lucky for us, there are now lutong bahay style ready-to-cook dishes that are just as convenient and close to the taste of what we have at home.
One of these new products is a Bicol Express-longganisa hybrid by Que Rica, a local Bicolano food brand. Last year, they launched a longganisa product stuffed with laing, one of their best-sellers.
[READ: We are not lying: There’s a longganisa stuffed with laing]
Rica Buenaflor, a Bicolana herself, is behind these ingenious products (and our fun laing recipes!). For their new line of ready-to-cook items, she taps into something familiar to every Filipino even though its name suggests a specific locale.
Bicol Express, known for its creamy-spicy taste, is one of those Filipino dishes that even a little amount goes a long way because it has sarsa and its spiciness makes us eat more rice. To use a Korean cultural reference, it is a “rice thief.”
For Buenaflor’s version of the beloved dish, she uses chicken instead of pork. But just as well, it has the same umami flavor, which she attributes to the addition of coconut milk and fermented shrimp paste or balaw, as what they call it in Bicol.
Following the success of the laing longganisa, Buenaflor thought of making something new for her brand. “The Bicol Express longganisa has been under development since December of last year and it was only during these challenging times that I decided to launch it,” she said.
She quickly realized the need for something familiar and comforting amid the lockdown, while also trying to bolster her business as a shift in demand is happening. “I figured people are looking for something quick to prepare, home-cooked, familiar flavors that give them comfort in these times of uncertainty. Plus, I also had to pivot my business. So since everything is happening in the digital space, I decided to add more products to my Que Rica line.” Since the start of quarantine, she and her husband are doing everything by themselves, from R&D to product shoots—all at the comfort of their home.
“What used to be a whole production team is now done in the comfort of our home. Our dining room is now a kitchen studio,” she said. But for her, being hands-on is also an assurance to the customers, especially now when safety is paramount.
Besides the hybrid longganisa, Que Rica also now has spicy chicken longganisa, pineapple-cured tocino and laing chicken cordon bleu, which is basically cordon bleu stuffed with the creamy-spicy laing.
You may order Bicol Express longganisa and other Que Rica products through their website, www.querica.ph. They deliver through Lalamove.
Header photo courtesy of Que Rica
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