Award-winning Filipino products – chilli oils, cooking sauces and jams. Peter Morrell gets a taste

Give family and friends a taste of the Philippines this Christmas with RoniB’s Kitchen’s new collection of Christmas gift packs featuring Award-winning Filipino food products. Using locally sourced ingredients, the Award-winning range of chilli oils, condiments, cooking sauces and jams are created from family and traditional recipes from the Philippines, south east Asia.

Roni Bandong, founder of RoniB’s Kitchen, says “This is a great way of introducing friends and family to the bold and complex flavours of the Philippines. The products are convenient to use and will enhance the flavours of dishes. All the products make great stocking fillers too!”

The new collection includes The Tropical Sauces Gift Pack consisting of Banana Ketchup, winner in this year’s Great Taste Awards, a sweet and tangy twist on a classic condiment; Ihaw Ihaw BBQ Sauce, made with pineapple and spices with a peppery bite, which can be used as a dip, sauce or marinade and Labuyo Hot Chilli Sauce, a combination of bird’s eye chillies with mango and pineapple which can pep up any dish. All are in 150ml glass bottles. RRP £15.

The Great Taste Gift Pack 2023 comprises products which have all won a Great Taste Award – Black Bean Chilli Oil, Black Bean Chilli Paste for coating on meat and fish, Kalamansi Marmalade, known as Philippine Lime Marmalade, Garlic Chilli Oil which can add pizzazz to dishes and Banana Ketchup. £35.

Not Your Grandma’s Adobo Pack comprises the traditional Filipino Adobo cooking sauce, Kalamansi Marmalade, and Garlic Chilli Paste. £17.00

The Festive Cheeseboard Flavour Delight Duo consists of Kalamansi Marmalade, Tamarind Jam, made with tamarind and a splash of Tarsier gin, as well as a Filipino-style small wooden branded board. £24.99

Peter Morrell, Editor comments “I have recently tried the attractively presented Tropical Sauces Gift Pack, which is an ideal gift for an adventurous foodie.

“Filipino food is one of my favourites but the ingredients can be difficult to find for home-cooking, the introduction of this range by RoniB’s Kitchen has changed all that.

“To try these sauces I cooked Chicken Adobo, an east/west fusion which is regarded as the national dish of the Philippines. The chicken is cooked in a simple broth of soy and vinegar with onion, garlic, sugar, black pepper, and a bay leaf. To liven it up I added two tbsp of the Ihaw Ihaw BBQ Sauce, to give it a more fruity and piquant taste. The sauce was reduced, and the result was a flavour-packed glaze that had a myriad of dimensions, and a distinct Filipino character.

“The Adobo was served over plain rice, and I used the other two sauces as condiments, the Great Taste Award winning Banana Ketchup was intriguing, the banana taste had morphed into something very interesting, and a tickle of spice added to the experience. The Labuyo Hot Chilli Sauce had a definite kick from the Bird’s Eye chillies, but this was softened with the addition of mango and pineapple.

“This, and the other Gift Packs in the range, will be appreciated by people wanting to expand their culinary boundaries, and experience some unique tastes.”

All products are vegan and vegetarian friendly and free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

All the Christmas gift packs are available to buy from http://www.ronibkitchen.co.uk

They can be used in a host of different recipes such as Roni’s Kung Po Style Chicken, Kalamansi Cheesecake No Bake, Fiery Pineapple Chicken Traybake.

More recipe ideas at https://www.ronibkitchen.co.uk/recipes

About Roni Bandong, founder, RoniB’s Kitchen

Since Roni Bandong moved to the UK, her mission has been to promote Filipino cuisine in this country. Whenever she took a Philippine dish to a friends’ party, it was always the first to go “so then I knew it was time to shine a spotlight on Filipino food, but the ingredients I needed to create the dishes were scarce. Filipino food was very much hidden from the mainstream so I knew I needed to change that,” she says.

She entered a competition on Kirstie Allsopp’s Handmade Christmas TV show on Channel 4 and her Filipino dish won “Best Alternative Christmas Dinner” Award. After that, Roni decided to launch her own range of products that showcase the culinary heritage of the Philippines.

Born in the Philippines, Roni started her culinary journey by first learning to bake. As a teenager, she started experimenting in cooking dishes from other cuisines. After graduating in marine zoology at the University of the Philippines, she worked in sales and marketing in various industries before she moved to the UK. Here she continued to work in sales and marketing. Her last stint was working in events and conferences before she started her food business.

In her spare time, Roni enjoys travelling, exploring historical cities and tasting regional cuisine. She has lived in Surrey for over 10 years.