The Kamayan Host

Maricel Santos

Maricel cooks the way her lola did on Sundays in Manila -- big batches, bold vinegar, and enough garlic rice to feed the neighborhood. Filipino cooking is the original fusion cuisine, and she teaches the sour-savory-sweet trinity that makes adobo the most versatile dish on earth.

Filipino

Voice · Generous, festive, family-first, no-fuss. Sprinkles Tagalog affection naturally.

Signature Dishes

The essential curation of Maricel's favorites.

15 MIN

Garlicky Shrimp Kinilaw with Smoked Paprika

Maricel's take on kinilaw — bright, garlicky shrimp cured in vinegar with a smoky paprika kick. Serve it cold over rice for that fresh Filipino flavor.

38 MIN

Garlicky Chicken Thigh Bites with Soy-Pepper Glaze

Crispy seared chicken thigh bites lacquered in a glossy soy-black pepper glaze, punched up with plenty of garlic. This is the kind of ulam that fills the house with a smell your neighbors will thank you for.

20 MIN

Scallop Kinilaw with Coconut Vinegar and Radish

A bright, Filipino-style kinilaw where fresh scallops are lightly cured in vinegar and finished with silky coconut milk and crunchy radish. Sour, briny, and impossibly fresh — this is coastal cooking at its finest.

55 MIN

Pinto Bean and Butternut Squash Lumpia

Filipino-style spring rolls filled with savory pinto beans and sweet roasted butternut squash, seasoned with garlic, soy, and a hint of vinegar tang. Crispy fried and served with a dipping sauce.

35 MIN

Inihaw na Pork Belly Skewers with Smoked Paprika

Crispy grilled pork belly skewers marinated in a tangy soy-vinegar blend with smoky paprika, Filipino-style on the grill.

100 MIN

Coconut Flour Biko Cakes

Sweet coconut-infused rice cakes with a soft, dense crumb and caramelized banana top. A Filipino-inspired treat made with coconut flour and pantry staples, perfect for sharing.

50 MIN

Pineapple Sticky Rice with Sesame and Vinegar

Sweet and tangy sticky rice studded with juicy pineapple, finished with a drizzle of vinegar-sugar sauce and toasted sesame. A festive dessert that brings Filipino kamayan energy to the table.

45 MIN

Maricel's Ginataang Manok (Chicken in Creamy Coconut Vinegar)

A Filipino comfort dish of chicken simmered in creamy coconut milk with tangy vinegar, garlic, and ginger. Masarap at mainit — perfect with steamed rice!

105 MIN

Maricel's Pork Belly Adobo (Slow-Braised)

Tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly braised in a classic Filipino adobo sauce of cane vinegar and soy sauce. Slow-braised until the meat is infused with garlicky, tangy, savory flavors. Perfect for a kamayan feast!

50 MIN

Garlicky Coconut Chicken

Tender chicken thighs simmered in a rich, garlicky coconut cream sauce with soy sauce and vinegar -- the kind of recipe that fills the house with the most wonderful aroma. Perfect over steamed rice.

45 MIN

Pineapple Garlic Ground Beef Bowl

A sweet and savory Filipino-inspired bowl with garlicky ground beef, juicy pineapple chunks, and fluffy rice. Perfect for a family dinner that comes together in no time.

50 MIN

Chicken Thigh with Soy-Vinegar Glaze

Crispy-skinned chicken thighs bathed in a glossy, tangy-sweet glaze that pays tribute to the adobo tradition — tangy, garlicky, and full of love. Perfect for a family feast.

65 MIN

Pineapple Pork Belly Barbecue

Tender pork belly glazed in a sweet-tangy pineapple barbecue sauce, grilled until caramelized and served with colorful vegetable skewers. Perfect for family gatherings and kamayan-style feasts.

70 MIN

Adobo White Beans (Kamayan Style)

Big-batch Filipino-style white beans braised in adobo sauce with pork belly. This is ulam and pulutan rolled into one, served the kamayan way — eat with your hands, share from the communal plate.

35 MIN

Garlicky Ground Beef and Corn with Rice

A hearty Filipino-inspired one-pan meal of savory ground beef cooked with sweet corn and plenty of garlic, served over fluffy white rice. Perfect for a family dinner that comes together quickly.

70 MIN

Maricel's Garlic Chicken Paksiw

A Filipino braised chicken dish tangy with vinegar and savory with garlic, perfect for family gatherings served over steaming white rice.

45 MIN

Pork and Shrimp Sarap (Savory Filipino Stew)

A hearty Filipino stew bursting with savory depth from pork belly, plump shrimp, and a rich coconut-inspired broth with vinegar tang. Perfect for family gatherings.

110 MIN

Lola's Pork Belly Adobo

Tender, glossy pork belly braised in a perfectly balanced soy-vinegar sauce with heaps of garlic. This is the adobo my lola made every Sunday — tangy, savory, and endlessly comforting.

50 MIN

Garlicky Chicken Thigh Adobo

Tender chicken thighs braised in a bold, tangy adobo sauce loaded with garlic — the kind of dish that fills the whole house with that amazing Filipino fragrance. Perfect for Sunday clustering around the big pot.

105 MIN

Sweet and Savory Pork Belly with Rice

Tender pork belly braised in a sweet and savory soy-vinegar glaze, served over fluffy white rice. A Filipino-inspired comfort dish that brings family together around the table.

40 MIN

Eggplant Tortang Talong Omelette with Tomato

Charred eggplant — skin blistered until it peels away and the flesh goes smoky and soft — gets pressed flat and enveloped in a savory egg batter spiked with garlic, yellow onion, and black pepper, then pan-fried until the outside is golden and set. Chopped tomato adds a fresh, juicy counterpoint to the rich egg crust. Quick, satisfying, and one of those dishes that proves simplicity is always enough.

45 MIN

Filipino Garlic Pork Stir-Fry Pancit

Pork loin hits the wok with garlic and yellow onion until fragrant, then shredded cabbage and carrot go in and soften quickly in that savory, soy-kissed heat before spaghetti noodles are tossed through and glossed to a beautiful, sticky finish. It's pancit the way households actually make it — generous, fast, and every strand carrying that deep garlic-soy soul. Handa na — it's ready.

60 MIN

Classic Chicken Adobo with Garlic Rice

Chicken thighs braise low and slow in the holy trinity of soy sauce, white vinegar, and whole garlic until the meat is fall-apart tender and the sauce reduces to a dark, lacquered glaze. The rendered fat gets poured over white rice with extra garlic fried in — sinangag the way it was meant to be made, fragrant and golden. This is the dish that explains everything about Filipino cooking.

105 MIN

Pork Belly Adobo Braised in Vinegar

Thick slabs of pork belly braise in white vinegar, soy sauce, and whole garlic cloves until the fat renders down and the meat turns yielding and rich, the sauce reducing to a dark, glossy coat that clings to every piece. Yellow onion and cracked black pepper add depth without stealing the spotlight from that pure, sour-savory adobo backbone. Let it sit a day if you can — it only gets better.

55 MIN

Beef Mushroom Soy Bistek with Onions

Beef steak slices marinate in soy sauce and lime juice until they're deeply seasoned, then sear fast in a hot pan alongside mushrooms and whole rings of yellow onion that soften and caramelize into a glossy, savory sauce. Garlic rounds out every layer of flavor, and the pan sauce that forms is almost reason enough on its own. Bistek is Filipino comfort at its most quietly elegant.

55 MIN

Chicken Afritada Tomato Pepper Traybake

Chicken thighs nestle into a traybake with chunks of potato, carrot, and bell pepper, everything coated in a garlicky tomato sauce that caramelizes around the edges as it roasts. The vegetables absorb the chicken's drippings and the sauce concentrates into something deep and savory — the kind of Filipino comfort food that comes out of the oven already tasting like it simmered all day. One pan, the whole family covered.

45 MIN

Chicken Tinola Ginger Soup with Chard

A knob of fresh ginger is the first thing into the pot, sweated with garlic and yellow onion until the kitchen smells like healing, then chicken thighs go in and slowly give themselves up to the clear, warming broth. Chard wilts in at the end, going velvety in the gentle heat while black pepper adds its quiet bite. This soup is what you make when someone needs taking care of.

45 MIN

Grilled Soy-Lime Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs soak in a marinade of soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and black pepper long enough for the flavors to seep all the way through, then hit the grill and char at the edges while staying juicy at the bone. The soy caramelizes, the lime stays bright, and the ginger hums underneath every bite. Backyard food, beach food, any-excuse food.

45 MIN

Coconut Squash Ginataang with Green Beans

Butternut squash slowly turns tender and silky in coconut oil with garlic and ginger, its natural sweetness deepening as it soaks up all that fragrant fat. Shrimp and green beans join toward the end, the shrimp just kissed by the heat and the beans keeping their snap against the soft squash. Ginataan in its most satisfying, vegetable-forward form.

30 MIN

Sour Salmon Paksiw in Vinegar Ginger

Salmon steaks go straight into a shallow braise of white vinegar, sliced ginger, garlic, yellow onion, and cracked black pepper — no browning, no fuss, just a clean, sour steam that firms the fish beautifully while the broth turns silky and pungent. Paksiw is the old way of cooking, and it works because it trusts the acid to do the heavy lifting. Eat it over rice with every drop of that tangy pot liquor.

From the Pantry

Signature staples

soy-saucewhite-vinegargarlicyellow-onionblack-pepperchicken-thigh

Favorite tools

DutchOvenRiceCookerWokLadle

Reaches for

Cane VinegarCoconut MilkPork Belly

Steers clear of

Expensive cutsFussy ingredients

Flavor Profile

The Loves

SourSavoryGarlicky

The Defaults

VinegarSoy SauceGarlic

The Avoids

Small portionsPretentious plating