Four Filipino Food Vloggers You Should Follow Today (If You Haven’t Yet)

In the world of food vlogging, it's difficult to stand out. And contrary to the gripes of naysayers that vlogging isn't a real job, successful vloggers have proven time and again that vlogging can be a fulfilling, if not lucrative, career.

Most will say it's all down to luck, but if there's anything we can learn from vloggers, it's that the work requires a ton of hours, sweat, and tears, plus thick skin and the passion to never say never.

When it comes to the Filipino food vlog scene, there's no doubt that there are vloggers far and wide coming up with their original content. For us, we think these four Filipino food vloggers on YouTube are just a joy to watch and deserve all the subscribers they can get.

Ninong Ry

Ryan Morales Reyes, popularly known as Ninong Ry on YouTube, is one of our favorite food vloggers. He's raw, real, and walang ere (has no airs and graces), plus he doesn't hold back from dropping crispy expletives here and there. He's like everybody's favorite chill and kwela tito (or ninong, rather) who knows what he's doing in the kitchen, and in the times he doesn't, you never know because he still manages to pull things off spectacularly. Personally, we love his three-way takes on his recipes and his way of addressing his viewers and fans: mga inaanak (godchildren).

Ninong Ry only burst onto the scene during the pandemic and, to date, has around 1.29 million subscribers on YouTube. His first video, dated July 14, 2020, is titled, "Sizzling Crispy Kare-Kare gamit ang apat na [klase] ng mane dahil ang crush mo sayo'y walang pake." (Sizzling crispy kare-kare using four types of nuts because your crush doesn't care about you). Need we say more?

Panlasang Pinoy

Chicago-based Vanjo Merano is the man behind popular YouTube channel Panlasang Pinoy, which boasts of more than five million subscribers. It's easy to see why Merano has amassed such a huge following. Merano brings genuine happiness and excitement on camera, like a golden retriever in human form who's just happy to share to others what he knows and just as happy to learn from them. He brings this same joy in every video and viewers get the sense that there's no dish they can't cook when watching Panlasang Pinoy because his gentleness and kind encouragement show viewers that there's nothing impossible in the kitchen, if only one would try.

Astig Vegan/rcestudios

When you think of vegan food, Filipino cuisine isn't really the first thing that comes to mind. RG Enriquez of Astig Vegan (rcestudios on YouTube), however, is here to change that. RG, who has over 34,000 subscribers on YouTube (she deserves millions more), first posted about veganizing Filipino food in April 2014, uploading a video titled "How to cook Vegan Adobo Kangkong, Part 1."

If you're a follower of RG since the beginning, then you're no stranger to her ingenious takes on vegan Filipino food, such as making vegan longganisa from mushrooms or Quaker oats and vegan dinuguan from tofu and black charcoal, among others. Whether or not you’re a Filipino vegan, you can surely learn a thing or two from RG’s spirit and creativity in the kitchen.

The Modern Nanay

Connh Cruz of The Modern Nanay gives justice to her moniker as the YouTuber mom we need and deserve. The Modern Nanay, who has around 150,000 subscribers on YouTube as of this writing, is known for her easy, affordable, tried and tested home-style dishes. Some of her recipes include sisig made from luncheon meat, budget stir-fry kangkong with tofu, orange chicken, beef lasagna that can be turned into a business venture, and fun, seemingly complex ones like Korean fish-shaped waffles with Nutella filling. Being the mother that she is, Cruz also shares moments related to home life, such as fridge restocking and grocery vlogs, hauls, and unboxing videos.