Lee Kum Kee Recipe Swap with Suzi Abrera

Mommies Eliza Santiago, Michelle Lim, Suzi Abrera and Michelle Aventajado shared their Lee Kum Kee recipes

References for home-cooked dishes are available everywhere but there’s no better source than moms for recipes that are tried and tested. Aside from being approved by the family, it is important that recipes can be easily whipped up with what’s available in the pantry and can be followed by the household staff.

At the recent Recipe Swap hosted by Lee Kum Kee, TV personality Suzi Entrata-Abrera and her fellow on-the-go moms exchanged recipes that can conveniently fit into hectic schedules.

Suzi Abrera with restaurateur Karen Mejia

With Lee Kum Kee Panda Oyster Sauce in hand, Suzi shared her very own Thai Omelette recipe. “It is from my favorite Thai cookbook which I love so much and I’ve been using since the first day we got married. I love the recipes there kasi I’ve had cookbooks before na when we try it hindi akma sa family ko yung flavors so I keep adjusting it. This one, I just tweaked it a little bit,” she reveals.

Aspiring yogini and mother of four Michelle Aventajado demonstrated her Grilled Salmon recipe; newbie homeschooler and mother of two Michelle Lim shared her Tofu Saute; and make-up artist and mother of one Eliza Santiago prepared her Zenmeyang Shucai (Sauteed Asparagus).

On top of the moms’ quick and easy recipes, Karen Mejia, owner of Terrace 45 restaurant volunteered her expertise with some tips and tricks to make meal preparation even more fun and hassle-free. While they had different cooking strategies, they all agreed that Lee Kum Kee Panda Oyster Sauce effortlessly brought out the best in their dishes, enhancing flavours and highlighting the premium goodness of the ingredients.

Suzi Abrera enjoys cooking with Lee Kum Kee

During the event, Southeast Asia Regional Category Manager for Soy, Shiao Chew Chan proudly revealed that Lee Kum Kee is known as the world’s first oyster sauce brand, with its history going back as far as 1888. Lee Kum Kee is committed to delivering variety while ensuring supreme quality and authenticity. A specialized team monitors every step in the production process. Oysters are carefully selected and harvested from their own oyster farm and processed on the day of harvest to retain its freshness and purest taste.

“Lee Kum Kee makes cooking so much easier. You just stir fry and dump in all the ingredients. Aside from the actual cooking, it’s the preparing the stuff that’s very taxing, ang haba ng process and Lee Kum Kee shortens it for you,” attests the Suzi who still finds time to cook for her family despite her hosting duties for the GMA morning show, “Unang Hirit” and “Mars” with Camille Prats on GMA News TV.

Regularly seen on her husband, Paolo’s Instagram account are Suzi’s Monday Night Specials. “Monday is my lightest day of the week so that’s when I get the chance to go to the grocery, buy ingredients and cook at night,” Suzi explains. “I prepare a whole meal. I’d be inspired by whatever. Like in the shows that I do, we always have a cooking segment because everybody wants to learn new stuff. Nowadays, we want to introduce our families to more than the usual adobo, sinigang, although they’re classic favorites. What happens is I get inspiration from one of the dishes that we’ve done and then I’ll build from there. So kunwari, may gumawa ng guacamole, I’ll build from there, I’ll research for a couple of Mexican recipes. Most of the time they’re first time dishes so I’ll make two or three just in case one doesn’t turn out well, we still have two pretty okay ones to enjoy,” she relates.

Lee Kum Kee brings out the flavours of any dish

“They all help in cooking,” she says of her kids Leona (11), Jade (10) and Nella (9). “But the youngest is the one who helps me all the way up to the serving, she’s really interested,” Suzi enthuses.

While she can’t remember exactly when she learned to cook, she recalls that she’s always been cooking. “When I was young, syempre the simpler ones like midnight snack with my siblings so we’ll just do fried rice, anything we can find in the fridge. Mostly mga canned stuff that we put together, we put egg, mahilig talaga kami mag-fried rice. When I got married, my husband and I didn’t have a helper so we were really taking turns to cook. We never enroled in culinary classes, hindi naman ‘yun uso before. Dati you just call your mom and ask paano nga ito ginigisa? So ganu’n lang, hit or miss din kami. My husband actually cooks very well but since I’ve been cooking lately, he doesn’t bother to anymore. Mas na-practice na ako.

Suzi Abrera looks on while Michelle Aventajado cooks and restaurateur Karen Mejia shares tips

To encourage moms and foodies to experiment in the kitchen more often, Lee Kum Kee is running a Facebook promo from May 27 to June 26, 2015. P25,000 worth of kitchenware vouchers await the most creative photos of dishes prepared with Lee Kum Kee. For the complete mechanics, visit the Facebook page of Lee Kum Kee Philippines.

Lee Kum Kee products are available at major supermarkets nationwide. To know more about Lee Kum Kee, log on to www.lkk.com.