- Oh, [ _ ]! Why is it smoking?
- Huh?
Oh my god!
(screams)
- In this episode, we are doing things
a little differently.
We will be cooking a beautiful dinner
for all our hard working producers here
at The Fat Kid Inside Studios and FEATR Media
and hopefully inspire you all in the type of dishes and food
that you can cook for your family and friends
during this holidays.
So from us to you—
- [Everyone] Happy Holidays!
- So it's been a logistical nightmare, apparently,
all these tired, beautiful, happy faces.
We did a lot of the preps, you guys did the preps yesterday.
- Yes.
- So they prepped in the studio yesterday.
I was coming from a shoot so I had to prep at home
last night.
This is the first time we're actually properly cooking
for each other.
I feel like we cook in a studio format
so when we do taste our foods and each other's foods
is really kind of just like standing,
you know, two bites, and then kind of go
to the next thing, there's always something happening.
So this is the first time we're actually
all sitting down together as a big dysfunctional family
and feeding each other.
So I'm personally very excited to try Trish's food tonight.
I've heard magnificent things.
Trish, how are you feeling?
- I'm feeling good. Thanks.
Thank you for asking.
- Seth is our showboater so I feel like
he's been really excited to kind of showcase, like,
his true talent and kind of break out.
- There he is!
- Yeah?
(laughs)
- Break free, baby! That's what I'm going to...
- Nica, what are you making, dessert?
- I'm making a cake.
- Okay.
Ynna, Sam, how are you guys feeling?
- I'm excited.
- And then, Martin, feeling like death as usual?
- Yeah.
(laughs)
- All right. So we're going to be doing
last minute preps here, getting the food ready
for everyone, and then you're going
to basically come with each pair,
except I'm the solo one, and we're going to explain
kind of the food that we did, the preps that we did,
and eventually have everyone taste it
and be really honest about each other's food.
- Hi! I'm Sam and I'm a food content creator
for TFKI.
- Hi! I'm Ynna and a junior food editor.
We are in charge of the appetizers.
- Yeah.
- And what we will be making today?
- Deviled eggs.
So normally when we talk about deviled eggs,
it's just simple— egg yolks mixed
with mayonnaise with the egg white on top.
But today, I'm going to be making it something special.
How about you, what are you going to be making?
- Okay. So for appetizer, I will be making
a tropical crunch ceviche, because first thing,
when you eat, you need to open up the palate
so I opt to making something fresh,
something light.
So I really love ceviche, I love kinilaw,
and that's what I thought of making.
So I'm using pomelo for my ceviche
because personally, I love all the tropical fruits.
- Okay. So while Ynna is doing that,
I'm actually making my egg yolk cream mixture.
So I'm just using Hellman's Real Mayonnaise,
cream cheese,
mustard,
and then we're going to put some spices over here.
And then, while this is going, I'm going to check
on my roasted bell peppers that I roasted off-cam.
I'm going to return these back 'cause what we're looking for
is this black coloring.
When you achieve this, it's easier to peel.
Around 15 minutes, and then we're going
to be mixing it.
We are going to put the egg yolks here,
and then egg whites, we're going to separate them.
We're going to fry them à la minute,
which means we'll do it on-site.
So we're just dunking the eggs in ice cold water
to shock the eggs, to stop the cooking process
and for you to be able to crack it without getting burned.
So with the whites, I am just going to make a brine.
Brining is actually for extra flavor, but not only that,
it also acts as a preservative.
- I'm getting frustrated with this pomelo.
- You want to switch preps?
- Really, you want to?
- Yes.
- What do you want me to do?
- I'm already done.
- Huh?
- You'll be left here. - No!
- Okay. So we're going to cut the eggs now.
Separate.
The yolks are going to go here.
Just be careful on dunking them 'cause sometimes
the egg whites break.
I started cooking when I was a first year college,
that was 10 years ago.
But started cooking professionally
in 2019 when I was in Australia for a fine dining restaurant
which was specializing in Filipino food still.
It was there that I actually had a passion for Filipino food,
is because of that restaurant.
Fast forward 2020, I came back to the Philippines
because of the pandemic, then I put up my restaurant
in Dumaguete.
Then, my restaurant failed because I was so clueless.
(chuckles)
- What happened?
- Then, I did content creation, and Papa E (Erwan) was hiring.
I don't know, I brought some food here,
and maybe that's why they hired me.
- Yes, the food he brought were amazing.
- I'd rather have it thick than loose
because if it's too loose, then I'm going to need
more yolks.
- Oh, guys. I'm done with my pomelo.
First prep done. Let's go with mangoes.
Oh my god, there's so much!
I'm just going to get all of the cheeks out.
So I started cooking when I was grade 2 or 3.
I was just watching my mom.
It looked like she was having so much fun,
and I wanted to do it too.
And then, my interest in cooking developed further
when I started watching cooking shows—
like MasterChef, Food Network, Asian Food Channel.
Those were my go-to channels growing up.
- All right. So this is our Nuoc Cham buffalo glaze.
It looks runny now but when it thickens
due to the sugar content...
When it's heating up, it's going to be really,
really tasty.
We're going to put a lot of cayenne
'cause I want the guest to actually enjoy the spice,
to the point where it tingles in your mouth.
When it comes to the main course, you'll eat a lot.
- Oh my god, guys. I'm done with the mangoes.
I have here mango that I cut into like
really small cubes.
Now, I'll just do juicing of the lemons first.
- Again, still prepping egg whites.
God. Why did I pick this recipe?
(grunts)
- Is this right? Or like this?
- Okay. Let's trade.
The eggs should be smooth.
- You really need muscles for this.
What am I going to do?
- Just deshell everything.
This is almost everything that we can do here.
We want to keep it fresh on-site also.
So we will see you guys there.
And for the meantime, the main course
will be prepped here.
- Yup. Let's go.
- What is up, guys? My name is Seth.
- And I'm Trish.
- And we are food content creators of—
- FEATR Media.
- And The Fat Kid Inside Studios.
And today, we are assigned with—
- The main dish!
- All right. Let's get on with it.
For me, I'm making a Thai-flavored,
inspired-ish pork belly.
So it's going to be crispy skin, roasted, enough to feed
the whole family.
And you?
- Yes. So we took inspiration from Thai flavors,
so he's making the pork belly and I'm going to be working
on the salad and the rice pilaf.
The rice pilaf is going to be Mojo Verde.
Oh, fancy, right? Fabulous.
- Fabulous.
With that, we wanted to go something different,
we want to be a little more fun with it.
So we're going to go ahead and start.
As you can see, I have two pieces of pork belly.
Oh, shocks.
And if you can see, these have dimples,
it's because I already punctured it
with my knife.
So I wanted to make holes in it and I wanted to help
that dry as much as possible.
- I just want to say this is so exciting
because Seth and I have known each other
for quite some time now but it's our first time
to work together on a dish.
- So what I'm going to be doing is I'm going
to be cutting this pork belly in half.
I do want it to have more or less an even cooking time
and I want also to have it more surface for it to dry.
I'm just going to do a light score at the bottom
to make sure that the flavors go in later.
So we're just going to do something really, really shallow
just to ensure that a lot of flavor gets into our pork.
How about you, how's your salad going along?
- It's still mango.
(chuckles)
So I'm still prepping the mangoes.
I'm just going to blend this and make a simple
mango vinaigrette.
- So first, we want to make sure that we make
our marinade for the pork.
The faster we marinade, the longer time it has
to actually have the ingredients come in.
- I'll help you with that.
- So I'm just going to do a rough chop on these.
So I want you to just quarter them
'cause we're going to put them in a food processor later.
Put it on the pork and before cooking,
we're going to scrape it out.
- Okay. I'm the sous chef here, guys.
- You can also do a rough chop on this ginger.
- Okay.
- And I'm going to do just a little quickie smash
on this garlic.
- Strong.
- If you want to peel your garlic,
a nice quick little way,
so just put them around, between your hands
and then just...
And it comes right out.
Okay. So I'm going to teach you how to devein...
"devein" or destem the kaffir lime,
'cause we're going to blend this and I don't want that
tough stem in the center to ruin it.
So what you want to do is just pull back.
- Okay. I can do that.
- And then, keep...
- Is this the same one they use for curries?
- Yeah. This is actually the same one they use
for curries.
- The quick chop of the lemongrass
to really give this pork belly a fragrant aroma.
- You like lemongrass, Seth?
- I love lemongrass.
- Okay. 'Cause I know it's kind of an acquired taste, right?
Not everyone really likes lemongrass on their food.
- That's true.
Kaffir lime.
Our lemongrass.
I'm going to add a little bit of salt to this.
- Okay. So while he's already working on that,
I'll go back to my dressing, so all I have to do
is just cut the acid or the citric fruit.
I'm using lime in this case.
I'm just going to slice it in half
so later I can easily juice it out.
- So I'm going to grind our paste that we're going to...
that we're going to rub later.
Give it a few pulses.
- How about you plug it in first?
- I knew that. I knew that.
- That’s just how it is when you’re flustered.
- Don't show them!
(giggles)
Let me just plug this in 'cause I knew that
it was unplugged.
- Of course, he knew that.
Oh, oh.
Is the extension cord plugged in?
- Yeah.
Here we are.
- All right. Take three.
- Take three.
- Press it!
(screams in shock)
I can already imagine it with the pork belly.
- I don't want to beat them up too much.
- It smells so good.
Wait. There's a leaf here.
- Oh, [ _ ]! Why is it smoking?
- Huh?
Oh my god!
(screams)
- Unplug it.
- Why is it smoking?
- 'Cause that's 110V.
- Smelled like fire.
(chuckles)
- It’s hazardous when we’re together.
Okay.
I'm just going to blend my mangoes.
Put a little bit of some acid.
I'll put a little bit of olive oil
and some honey.
You might be thinking I'm making a fruit juice, but no,
not even close.
Okay.
- I'm going to start seasoning my pork belly with some salt
to get it started.
This will help it have more flavor.
Hey, I want to try. I want to try.
Put some over here.
- Where?
- Here on my wrist.
- What do you think does it lack?
- Hey!
- Just kidding. It's delicious.
(chuckles)
- So after I blend this actually, I might cook it
over low heat just because we work with pork
right beside it, just for sanitary
and hygienic purposes.
- So what I'm doing here, I'm really working
the salt into those scores that I made.
This will help ensure a flavorful meat.
And I'm going to rub in our blended herb vegetable
spice mix.
So come join me, Trish. We're going to boat this.
- Oh, I thought we were done.
- No, we're going to boat them.
So I'm going to be covering this with foil at the bottom
but leaving the skin exposed.
I'm just going to set this aside and we can set up
whatever else you have to do.
- Yeah. I'm just going to clean up the kitchen counters
so we won't contaminate any food.
All right. So I realized that the Mojo Verde is best done
when it's fresh to avoid the herbs from browning,
so I'll just do that tomorrow.
And then right now, I'm just going to make
the simmer, and then you can make your sauce
and we'll call it a day.
- Yeah.
I am making a nice, like, spicy, garlicky Thai sauce
to top off with our pork later.
So I'm going to be just mincing some red onions.
- This is actually really, really simple.
All we have to do is just wait for it to simmer
just so we can kill any bacteria or any germs,
and then we can turn off the fire and let it cool.
It's already simmering, I'm just going to turn it off
and set this aside to cool down.
- So guys, what I'm putting here, just garlic, onion,
I'm going to add some fish sauce, sugar,
lime or lemon to taste,
you can add chilis if you want it spicy,
but it's also very, very important
to do this maybe a day before 'cause you want those flavors
to really, you know, get to know each other.
I think we just got to keep this in the fridge,
cover it so it doesn't stink up the whole place
'cause it is fish sauce.
- We just have to clean up and we're done.
- Get ready for tomorrow, right?
- Let's go.
- I'm going to completely break the treatment of this video,
and I am so sorry about that.
I had an absolutely crazy day.
I just came from a shoot with Dahlia
and which I'm super grateful for.
Like, this video is all about being thankful.
And that was such a great shoot, and it's just great
at this age—you know, I've been doing this
for a long time— to kind of still do these projects.
It's really great.
But now, as you can see, it is 9:30 p.m.,
I am absolutely exhausted.
And tomorrow is when we'll be cooking for everyone.
And I feel this dinner that we're doing is really special,
and that's why I'm putting in the extra hours
and the extra effort to serve good food.
By now you know what I'm making, so I'm going to go ahead
and start the prep.
So really important tonight is to cook the beef cheeks down
for about 12 hours.
And then after that, I'm going to start
my lobster stock, and then figure out
how to bring those two sauces together.
The dish is really inspired by a mechado,
very loosely in terms of flavors,
and just kind of cleaning that up and thinking of ways
how would I serve it in a very special
but still kind of very homey way.
And I really hope that people like it.
It's in my head now. I haven't executed it.
But hopefully, it turns out pretty good.
So the idea here is to play with the classic flavors
of what makes a beef mechado and kind of like turn it
on top of its head.
And I'm going to be making the beef cheeks
with your aromatics.
But I'm not going to be using those aromatics,
I'm going to be discarding them later.
But I'm going to cook everything together
for about 12 hours in the oven, and that's just going
to give it so much great flavor,
and then I'm going to put it in the fridge
and then I'm going to sear them again
to retain that sauce, and then just clean it up,
sieve it, mix that with the lobster broth
that we're making, and that's just going
to make a really thick, kind of like almost
au jus like demi-glace sauce which will carry all the flavor
from all the elements that we're adding there.
And then, I have to work on a few other things.
Like, tomorrow, I'll be making an onion
and ube soubise, so it's just kind of like a...
Imagine a mashed potato blended with caramelized onions.
It's beautiful. I've done that before.
And I think that's it.
Okay. New day, new apron.
Feeling slightly rested.
Got about five hours of sleep.
Let's check on our prep.
So here is our lobster stock that's reduced
for about three hours.
This thing was full till here so we really reduced it down,
and it is so intense and beautiful.
Yum.
While that's going, we're basically going
to take our lobster tails right here
and I'm going to poach that in some butter,
but I'm going to basically do it in a water bath
so the temperature is controlled.
I think I'm going to go for about 54°C
for about 20 minutes, so this should get
nice and tender but not like breakaway tender
and that's just going to infuse all the butter
into the lobster tails which would be fantastic.
- We are both assigned to the dessert,
so we’re in charge of the finale.
We have to finish... what exactly?
- I actually am planning to make a carrot cake,
but then I've watched something on TikTok, Chef,
wherein he put the whole cheesecake
in between two layers of carrot cake.
So I was like, ooh, that's cool.
Okay. Perfect. I'm going to do that
but I'm going to make it five layers
so that'd be around roughly this height,
so it'll really be the centerpiece.
- So when you see it, you won’t know
if there's a wedding or a birthday—
no clue at all.
What's the frosting going to be?
- The frosting is going to be cream cheese as well.
But it's a light cream cheese frosting,
so not too overwhelm the cream cheese
and the cheesecake on the center.
And then, I'm planning to have a sauce
that would go with it.
And then, maybe like individual...
- Sweet and sour?
(laughs)
- Or barbeque, teriyaki. - Adobo. Humba.
- A spiced butterscotch sauce.
- My only request is there'd be no raisins.
- No, it's okay. I don't like raisins either.
- That's why we're a pair.
So for me...
She's going to be making the centerpiece—carrot cake.
She's going to make it beautiful for sure.
For mine...
I don't know if I'm going to say it right.
I'm sure I'm saying it wrong, so Erwan can just
correct me tomorrow.
It's called Vacherin Au Citron.
So basically it's a...
- Fancy.
- That's why it's very...
It looks complicated but it's only complicated
because there are multiple components to it.
So I'm going to be making lemon sorbet,
lemon curd, meringue, and some lemon syrup.
So it's all going to go together.
- I love how fresh it is.
- Right?
So some are fresh and some are not fresh.
(laughs)
- Okay. So the beauty of this recipe that we'll do
is that you can actually make this ahead of time.
So this is sour cream, just for added acidity.
You can use heavy cream if it's not available.
- How do they add the acidity?
- If you only have cream, you can actually add, like,
for a cup of cream, a tablespoon of your acid,
so lemon or vinegar.
And then, I have here three blocks of cream cheese
and some white sugar.
And then, vanilla, it depends on what you want,
you can also use lemon extract.
And then, two eggs.
- All right. Cool.
- And then, just cream everything together,
and then that's it.
- So the first thing I can do is actually the lemon curd.
It's not the easiest. The easiest is the lemon syrup.
And so for this one, I need a lot of sugar.
It would be enough.
And it’s like making pastry cream
but with more of that sour tingling style.
Plus the lemon juice we squeezed earlier.
- So I'm just adding my sour cream, Chef,
to this one.
And then, we're going to whip this again
while I prepare the eggs.
- I love it.
So while you're preparing the eggs...
So this process, it's called tempering.
It's usually not done for lemon curd.
Usually, for lemon curd, it’s all in one go.
Just one pot, mix everything together
until they form the thickness or consistency you prefer.
Then, slowly, so tempering cooks your eggs
without coagulating everything, making the temperature equal
for both liquids.
And then from there, put it back.
Right. So the texture that I want isn't there yet
but at this moment, I'll add half a cup of butter.
So yeah, lemon curd is full of sugar and fat,
but you don't eat a lot of it when it's put
into the pastry.
Usually, just dot it or a tablespoon.
- So one egg at a time.
Then, I'm going to add our vanilla flavor.
- So my consistency, I don't want it to be like
the spread curd.
So I just want it to be sauce consistency
which is this.
I'll finish it up with some zest.
All right. So that's it. This is my first component.
For this one, my batter is done.
- Okay. We'll make the lemon sorbet.
So equal parts of lemon and water.
Lemon juice.
So noisy. What is that? So annoying.
- So I'm going to do a bain-marie for my cheesecake.
If there's no bain-marie, it's going to rise quickly
and that's going to crack, and then it's going to burn.
- Who is Marie?
So ice cream, obviously it comes from...
It has to have a base called crème anglaise.
Crème anglaise is milk-based, sometimes cream,
and you usually thicken it with egg yolk
and sweetened with sugar, flavored with vanilla beans,
or whatever flavor you might prefer.
Now, sorbet is more of just the juice.
So let's say lemon sorbet— lemon juice, water, sugar.
So the thing is, it doesn't freeze like ice cream.
With sorbet, it's like you're making ice.
It’s like making ice candy, but fancier.
People usually say, "There's so much sugar."
You're not going to eat the whole cake, right?
I'm not mad.
Because!
(laughs)
What I like about this machine thing,
it's really just like you're making ice candy
and it'll handle it.
Cover this, put it in the freezer,
and hopefully, it solidifies.
So next, we're going to make meringue.
- Meringue.
- And I just wanted it to provide the texture
on our whole dessert.
Just helps stabilize the egg whites.
Add a pinch of salt and we'll mix it on medium.
Now that I have microbubbles, I'll gradually add my sugar.
We don't dump it in all in one go,
that's because you're going to destroy all the bubbles
that you've made.
So just do it slowly.
All right. So this is the right consistency
I'm looking for.
- Wow! - It's stiff but soft.
- So now, it's time for frosting.
Cream cheese.
I'm going to cream this first.
Oh, shoot. Wait.
I'll check my cake first.
- I'll take care of this.
- I'm back.
- And better than ever.
- Time to add the butter.
This is softened, so I prefer the butter
to be softened rather than the cream cheese
because we need the cream cheese to be more stable
than the butter.
We're just going to cream both together.
So we're going to add our vanilla for flavor.
Okay.
This looks better now.
It's now time to assemble our cake.
So I love to add glucose at the base
so this acts as a glue later on to our cake.
So this is now the first layer.
Thank you, Chef.
So just that.
Second layer in.
Then, it's time for the cheesecake.
See, it's so tall already.
Is this already centerpiece-worthy, Chef?
- Attraction.
- One tip that I like for the top layers to not fall,
especially since the carrot cake is heavy,
is to use dowels.
So my favorite type of dowel for this type of cake
is boba straws.
Two dowels.
Push it using the excess dowel.
Another one. Push it.
Then, we're going to crumb coat our cake
with the rest of our frosting.
Experts, like my mom, she doesn't do crumb coat,
just that.
- So after this, just the crumb coat and...
- A light crumb coat, and then I'm going
to finish everything tomorrow, and then that's it.
- Close the door, please. Is this how you are at home?
- I'm sorry.
(chuckles)
- That should come right off.
Aw!
- You thought I was mad.
(sobs)
- It's delicious.
(laughs)
- Okay. So to start and to awaken the palate,
I present you my tropical crunch ceviche.
It features lapu-lapu and shrimp for seafood
and it's marinated in a mixture of citrus mix
which is calamansi and lemon.
And it's then tossed in a vibrant mix of pomelo,
mangoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions.
Then for the crunch, I made some crispy wanton chips.
You can either dip it or crumble it,
however you like. So, enjoy.
(applauds)
I'm really thankful for the guidance, support,
and your brilliant creativity.
Being around such talented people
makes me feel inspired everyday, and I just can't wait
to learn more from you all.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
(applauds)
- As a fan of retro cooking, this is a 70s inspired
deviled eggs.
So pan-cooked fried egg whites at the bottom.
You have a roasted bell pepper cream mixture on top,
followed by a Nuoc Cham buffalo glaze that's kind
of like a fusion between Thai and American cuisine.
Then, it's finished off with tarragon and chives.
(applauds)
I am really thankful for...
maybe the opportunity that I am able to work
with a team that is driven with a vision to promote
Filipino cuisine/heritage in general.
(applauds)
- Oh my gosh.
- Oh, yeah.
Try my pork belly. - Yummy?
Not too much?
- It needs the fish sauce.
Juicy, tender?
- That's good.
- Whoa!
- Wow.
- So here I have a whole roast pork belly
with Thai-inspired flavors.
So I flavored it with a kaffir lime,
lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and season it with salt,
dried it for about two days, and cooked it really nice
and slow.
On the side, you have Thai fish sauce.
I'm really thankful for your patience
and your motivation, and just your spirit of work
really inspired us to just become better
at our jobs and just try to deliver what you guys
see in us.
And we believe, and I believe that you see greatness
in each and every one of us.
So I'm very, very thankful for that.
- Amen.
(applauds)
- So I've made a Mojo Verde rice pilaf,
so it's basically herbs that were blended together
and we cooked the rice in it.
And then, we also have a side salad to go with it,
so you have your vegetables for the day.
And it's topped with the mango dressing. Yes.
For that Thai-inspired flavor.
So 2024 was a different year for me,
probably one of the beat years of my life,
and it started off very differently,
I didn't think I would be here today.
And I'm thankful for each and every one of you—
producers, videographers, editors, everybody,
including those who work on and off camera,
I'm so, so, so grateful because of your patience.
And 2024 is full of big milestones for me
and you guys are definitely one for the books.
So thank you and I hope we continue to work together.
(applauds)
- Oh, wow.
(laughs)
- That's Jennifer Coolidge.
- Only in the bedroom.
That's good.
- Whoo!
(applauds)
- That's the go signal, guys. Let's eat!
- Yeah. The pork's next level, Seth.
- That is so good.
Wow.
- So my dad knew him.
So we would go on his boat.
- So, guys, what do you think?
- Woah, so confident.
- You were crying.
- Hey!
(laughs)
- You know that rice cake in front of the...
- So obviously my favorite is the kinilaw, or ceviche.
I finished one entire bowl.
- Wow.
(laughs)
- But everything's so good. As in. Seth, the sauce
is super gamechanger.
Super delicious. Promise. No joke.
I'm thankful for the growth.
I'm just super lucky to be surrounded by people
who are very passionate in what they do,
and it's always another learning experience
everyday with the team.
- Don't hurt yourself.
- So the dish that we made today,
the idea was how can you put together
two dishes that I grew up with that I really
have strong memories with which is a beef mechado
and the only dish my dad ever taught me
which was Homard à l'Armoricaine which is the only dish
he ever taught me how to make but it's absolutely delicious.
And I found those flavors to be very kind of synonymous
so that's what I kind of played with.
So you have veal cheeks, I added 'Nduja.
And then, Homard à l'Armoricaine is a tomato-based stew,
a lobster stew from France as well.
Both of those stocks came together,
and then cooked down into really thick,
kind of like fatty sauce.
That's why I didn't put too much of it
'cause it's quite intense.
And then, I sous vided and poached...
butter poached the lobsters, and I really cooked down
the veal very nice and tender.
And that's served with betel nut.
Betel nut is what they use when they make nganga
in like Visayas and stuff, and they chew tobacco.
So that's the leave I used to kind of deep fry.
So that's another Filipino element on the plate.
And yeah. So the idea was to kind of present
those two cultures in one dish.
And then, we have soubise. Soubise is a French sauce
of caramelized onions that's kind of blended
at a high speed with cream and milk
which is really nice.
And then, I added natural ube to it;
there's no coloring there.
So it's kind of like a mashed...
It looks like ube halaya but it's not,
it's a savory version.
So it's soubise mixed with an ube mash.
So those two things come together nicely.
- So what are you grateful for?
(laughs)
- Whoo!
- In my life, I've never really believed so much
in something that I was doing, and that belief
would not be possible with the team
that we've built over the years.
Yes, that team has grown, has changed,
the dynamics are always more complicated
the more the number of people that you bring
into a team, but I really do think that
the instinct, the flexibility, and everything
that we started with is still very much at the core
of what we do.
I really believe in kind of all the work
that we're doing.
I think it's fantastic. I think we're doing something
that's never been done in the Philippines.
And you know, I've always hated when people said,
you know, "Ah, it's good enough for the Philippines."
Like, that was always something I kind of nod at,
that pissed me off, and I think we're proving
that quote wrong in general.
And that's something that wouldn't be possible
with anyone...
everyone at this table and everyone that's not
on this table, that couldn't join us today.
So thank you very much for kind of believing
in this journey with me as well.
I know we operate at a very high pace
and at a high speed, but I think it's something
that we can all agree that, you know, we're very lucky
to be put in this position as well, to do things
that we're passionate about.
So thank you all.
(cheers and applauds)
- Delicious.
- I can eat the ube, like, by itself.
- So I super love this dish 'cause I can taste the flavors
of Filipino and French.
I can eat it as is.
First, I'm grateful for the kitchen team
for working so hard and preparing everything
that's on the table right now.
Everything was so good.
I'm also grateful for the whole TFKI team
'cause everyone is so passionate and it's actually
super inspiring, and it pushes me
to become better each day.
- Yeah!
- I’ve been in the industry for over 10 years,
and out of all the shoots I’ve been to—
so many shoots— this is the only production
that I’ve truly taken great care of.
(applauds)
(cheers)
So looking forward to more years to come.
(cheers and applauds)
- All right. So we are team dessert— Nica and Marts.
So the first one in front of you,
it's Vacherin Au Citron. Is it correct?
- Vacherin.
- Vacherin Au Citron.
Basically, it's like an ice cream cake
but with all lemon.
So it's meringue, it's lemon curd,
lemon sorbet, and mint and basil syrup.
All house-made, all sour but sweet.
And whenever I make dishes for people,
it always comes from...
Sorry, Seth.
It always comes from memory and experience.
So this was the last recipe I developed
with a good friend of mine before he passed away.
And things like that, I love serving to people
I really like.
So this one's for everyone here. I hope you guys like it.
- What are you grateful for?
- I am thankful for each and every one of you here.
You guys are very patient with each other,
you always listen to, you know, instructions,
criticisms, or even affirmations which is great.
- Thank you, Chef!
(applauds)
- The centerpiece.
- Okay. So after a refreshing dessert from Chef,
so we want to close and end this wonderful
Thanksgiving dinner on a warm and sweet note,
so that's why I chose a merry cheesecake stuffed
carrot cake.
So in the middle of our carrot cake,
there's a whole cheesecake. It's frosted with
a very nice and light cream cheese frosting.
Just to have it all come together,
there's a spiced butterscotch sauce
that you can drizzle on top.
So I'm very grateful for the entire team
because you believed in me even if I had doubts
with myself.
And I'm just very thankful for each and every one of you.
And hopefully, it's going to be a fruitful 2025.
(cheers)
- What I'm grateful for...
Someone once asked me, “Your family is amazing,”
they said.
My answer to that was, it all boils down
to where you came from.
Of course, before you built that family, you had work,
and through that work, you fought for your family.
That’s what people see now, right?
What people see now goes back to where I came from,
and I’m grateful for myself.
Like, Hans, I’m grateful for myself.
You know why?
Because I arrived an hour and a half early
to shoot BTS for Erwan.
That one and a half hours— when the camera operator
was late, the DOP said to me,
“Monn, can you handle this camera?”
And from that day on, I’ve been grateful for myself
because that’s the day I met E.
And on that day, he asked if I had a passport.
That same day, I locked in my flight to Taiwan
for my first job with Erwan.
Because I showed up so early, I got that opportunity,
and that’s the reason I’m here today.
So the lesson for everyone is, whatever opportunity
comes your way, be grateful.
And I’m grateful because we’ve grown so much.
When I walk into the office, I’m greeted warmly—
everyone is welcoming.
There’s no one in a bad mood, no one complaining
about their life, because we’re all putting out
the same positive energy for each other.
And I’m grateful because we all lift each other up—
not drag each other down, but help each other rise.
Thank you, Erwan, because wherever this attitude
comes from, for sure, it’s because of our boss.
If he were a jerk, we’d all be jerks, right?
For sure. E, thank you. Love you, man. Thank you.
And we’re going to grow even more, for sure.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
(applauds)
- You gave me the chance to fulfill my dreams.
Oh, sorry.
(laughs)