Christmas food

Madalas na ihandang pagkain tuwing Pasko :)

What’s your favorite snack during the Christmas season? Nothing beats a good and freshly cooked bibingka. There’s just something about these rice cakes – from the caramelized topping to the various toppings and flavors it brings.

Maple at Meranti’s version of Bibingka is light with a base slightly reminiscent of a macaron and then it’s topped with strips of coconut and slices of salted duck egg. So good you can finish a set of these mini-bibingka in one seating!

Their Christmas Sotanghon Soup is just perfect for the cold December weather. Enjoy a hearty warm and comforting bowl of sotanghon that’s definitely perfect for sharing. Something so simple but really hits the spot. This is also something that the kids will love.

Their Chicken Relleno is definitely one festive dish – quite unassuming when served and not chopped because it looks like any other normal roast chicken but the surprise is in the stuffing. I love the slightly sweet flavor and it’s just perfect with rice!

Something with a Spanish heritage – paella has become one of our staple dishes – at least in some house holds. Their Seafood Paella really hits the spot – it’s a bit soupy and the rice is cooked just right and more importantly – it’s topped with a nice assortment of crustaceans making the dish infinitely more flavorful.

Their Lengua Estofado is such a big revelation for me because usually I’m not really a fan of lengua. Their version is cooked well and laced with this incredibly flavorful sauce that really goes well with rice and together with the melt-in-your-mouth pieces of meat it makes for one killer dish.

This dish makes me so happy! A dish that will bring back a lot of childhood memories – their Pinoy Spaghetti is just perfect! Everything from the generous meat sauce filled with ground beef and hotdogs and the slightly sweet flavor of the sauce base. This is just true comfort food for me, definitely a must-try dish.

Saving the best for last, don’t forget to save space for their Agar-Agar! This eye candy sweet tooth treat is made of layers of biko, gelatin and leche flan. Basically all the good stuff combined into one gorgeous dessert. You’ll love the varying levels of sweetness and textures from each layers – this is just perfect with coffee or some hot chocolate.

Holiday-themed dishes from Maple at Meranti are worth it.