November 28, 2024
Chefs whip up veggie dishes at Fiesta Verde
By Joy Rojas
If you’re planning to go vegetarian, now’s the best time to do it.
With enough plant-based products available in the market today, vegetarians are spoilt for choice and carnivores can still enjoy the meaty taste and texture they look for, this time in meat-free alternatives made of soy and vegetables.
At Tzu Chi Foundation’s recent Fiesta Verde 2024 at Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus (BTCC) in Sta. Mesa, Manila, guests eagerly made a beeline to sample the plant-based dishes prepared by vegetarian and vegan chefs in live cooking demonstrations held at the BTCC Plaza.
Leeane Carstyn Chua, a culinary arts student from De La Salle University’s College of St. Benilde, whipped up mushroom aglio olio and vegan pad Thai using pasta from Ideal Gourmet. Chef Camille Faustino prepared hickory barbeque rybs, crispy fried spicy kung pao chicken, and premium patty sliders from Green Rebel, an Indonesian plant-based food company now available in the Philippines. Recipe developer Camille Acosta brought her vegan-since-birth kids to assist her in the preparation and distribution of ham sandwiches and binagoongan pork belly from her plant-based food brand The Good Choices. And RG Enriquez-Diez, founder and content creator of Astig Vegan, put together a paella with Beyond Ground Beef and Beyond Sausage, and milk tea using condensed and evaporated coconut milk from Nature’s Charm, all vegetarian products from Prime Pacific Foods Corporation.
A vegetarian for two years and a vegan for 20 years, Enriquez-Diez pursued her advocacy for plant-based cooking to show that a meat-free diet can be sustainable, easy, and delicious.
“My theory is that they think it’s a sacrifice or deprivation,” she says of people’s hesitation to go vegetarian. “And it’s especially hard if you don’t know where to get ingredients or you live with a meat eater. That's why I try my best with Astig Vegan to share with as many people as possible not just recipes that are easy to make at home but places where they can get vegan food.”
While websites, supermarkets, and specialty stores like The Vegan Grocer make meat alternatives more accessible to the public, Enriquez-Diez doesn’t go very far for her ingredients.
“One major resource I have is my neighborhood palengke (wet market),” she says. “You can use puso ng saging (banana blossom), talong (eggplant), langka (jackfruit). Tokwa (tofu), of course, is available at every market. Sitaw (beans) and pechay (Chinese white cabbage) are really affordable, especially if they’re in season.”
Fiesta Verde guest Lolita Hontiveros, who gamely got up to assist Enriquez-Diez when she asked for a volunteer, appears to be convinced. “It’s very basic, not salty and not overly tasty,” she says of the paella. “I think I’ll change my method of cooking!
RG Enriquez-Diez, the lady behind the blog Astig Vegan, prepares a vegetarian paella using Beyond Ground Beef and Beyond Sausage, vegetarian products from Prime Pacific Foods Corporation.
A vegan for over 20 years, RG Enriquez-Diez constantly raises awareness on how easy, sustainable, and delicious vegetarian cooking can be. The recipes from her Filipino Vegan cookbook make use of ingredients found in the local market.
Camille Faustino (third from left) poses with her team after preparing hickory barbecue rybs, crispy fried spicy kung pao chicken, and premium patty sliders from Green Rebel, an Indonesian plant-based food company now available in the Philippines.
Recipe developer Camille Acosta presents the binagoongan pork belly she cooked using a plant-based meat from her brand The Good Choices.
De La Salle University College of St. Benilde culinary arts student Leeane Carstyn Chua whipped up mushroom aglio olio using pasta from Ideal Gourmet.
The Good Choices, a plant-based food brand by Camille Acosta, uses vegetables to mimic the look, texture, and taste of animal meat.
This vegan paella includes plant-based ground beef and sausage from Beyond Meat, one of the brands under Prime Pacific Foods Corporation.
Fiesta Verde visitor Lolita Hontiveros grabbed the chance to assist RG Enriquez-Diez when she asked for a volunteer. She helped make milk tea using vegetarian ingredient
To make your milk tea truly animal-free, do as the Astig Vegan did at Fiesta Verde. She used coconut milk instead of cow’s milk, and grass jelly and tapioca pearls instead of gelatin, which is collagen sourced from the skin, bones, and cartilage of animals.