Serve Noche Buena Like a Chef with Chefs Ariel & Mia

Chefs Ariel and Mia Manuel

Parents of Justin, 10; Owners, Lolo Dad’s Café, Malate; Mia is also a baking and pastry arts instructor at the Magsaysay Institute of Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA)

“Justin’s merienda is usually a sandwich. That’s fast. We can make a grilled cheese sandwich or a panini. It’s filling and delicious.”

Our son’s favorite food is: chicken! He likes the skin. Normally, we try to veer away from fried food, so it’s adobo, nilaga, asado... We try to make it as healthy as possible. It also helps that we have a restaurant because he is exposed to different dishes. We tell him to order something we cannot have in the house.

“Don’t say no until you’ve tasted it. For all you know, you’ll like it.” That’s always been our rule with him. 

If my kid wants to eat the same thing over and over again, we’d: give him more choices. Our rule is: If you don’t like the food, then sorry, don’t eat. But once he gets hungry, whatever is there, he will eat. He cannot have special food made or cooked for him. Just vary the way you prepare the dishes. 

‘Healthy’ junk food we can give our son includes: popcorn. He also likes banana chips. It’s only on weekends or when we go see a movie that we buy junk food such as potato chips. No sodas. We give him fresh fruit juices, such as calamansi and melon.

When we’re pressed for time, the easiest thing to whip up is: boneless, crispy dilis. We use a Teflon pan so there’s not much oil needed. Sometimes, he eats it with fried or scrambled eggs. We always have adobo in the freezer. But when it’s really rushed, sige, fry na lang. That’s the last option. 

 

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Important pantry staples include: bread, pasta, cheese - and fruit juices! We prefer that he drinks freshly blended juices because the artificial ones have a lot of sugar.

Our son helps us out in the kitchen by: doing small chores. He chops the garlic, and the tomatoes. For younger kids, if you’re making cookies, they could scoop the batter into the tray, roll them into balls, or make shapes using cookie cutters.

When we need to make breakfast in a rush, we: prepare it the night before. We marinate the chicken the day before, then bake in the morning. Just put it in the oven before getting ready. By the time you’re dressed, tapos na!

When our son takes long to finish his food, we: tell him to sit down and eat. We tell the yaya not to follow him around with the food. We don’t want him to have that bad habit and think that “Yaya can run after me and I can eat anytime I want.” We taught him that when he gets restless, he can play around in between bites, but we will call him back to eat in one minute. It instills discipline. Meal time is meal time.
The best piece of advice we can give about feeding your kids is: that even if they don’t like the food, try to give it once in a while, in small portions. Instill the discipline that whatever is on the table, he must eat. Don’t cook a special dish just for him so he doesn’t become finicky when it comes to food.   

 

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Holiday Grab-and-go Snack:

Steamed Breast of Chicken Adobo Sandwich with White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn

 

Ingredients:

 4 cups chicken stock or lukewarm water 

1/2 cup light soy sauce

2 tablespoons cane vinegar

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

a few peppercorns, crushed

6 pieces skinless chicken breast

canola oil for frying

12 slices loaf bread or 6 pieces pandesal or buns, halved

3 tomatoes,

sliced lettuce leaves 

microwave popcorn tossed with white cheddar cheese powder, to serve

 

Procedure:

 1. To make the brine, combine stock or water, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a container. Add chicken and cover. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (no more than 6 hours).

2. Set up a steamer on the stove. Drain chicken and place the brine on the bottom of the steamer (this is your steaming liquid). Put chicken in the steamer basket and cover. Steam for 20 minutes on medium-high heat. When done, remove from steamer and place on a wire rack to cool.  

3. Reduce excess liquid and use it to baste the chicken. Chill for at least 2 hours. Remove chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking.

4. In a deep skillet, heat enough oil to fry the chicken. Sear in batches. Drain on paper towels.

5. Slice chicken thinly and arrange between two pieces of bread. Top with tomatoes and lettuce. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients. Wrap sandwiches or pack in sandwich bags. Add popcorn on the side. Makes 6 sandwiches.

 

SMART TIP: No time to cook? You can use leftover adobo to make the sandwich! It will be ready in no time.

 

Photography by At Maculangan