I first learned about the concept of meal kit services sometime last year, or the previous year. While food delivery services are all the rage in Metro Manila (from reduced calorie count meals, to Paleo, to Keto, etc.), we didn't have a meal kit delivery service just yet, which appealed to me so much more. I was praying that something like HelloFresh would eventually make its way to the Philippines; fresh ingredients, already portioned according to my chosen dish, that I could cook myself.
Lo and behold, I finally had the answer to my prayers (thanks to my boss, who first tried it out) in the form of u Cookin, the first meal kit provider in the Philippines.
After seeing posts made my those who had tried the service, including my boss', I decided to give it a go. I placed an order for their Balsamic Sirloin Steak, initially for 5 pax (PhP 650 for all ingredients, already portioned per serving). But I decided to bump it up into 7 pax so I could make our Sunday dinner (which usually includes my brother, sister-in-law, and 3-year-old nephew; soon, I will have to factor in my toddler nephew's growing appetite and his newborn brother who will be eating solids at some point). Thankfully, u Cookin was gracious enough to come up with a package for 7 (at PhP 850), which isn't included in any of their rates.
My box was delivered on a Friday as they don't do weekend deliveries. I placed it in the refrigerator first before thawing the steaks come Sunday afternoon. I started to prep a little before 5pm, in anticipation of dinner.
This was how the box looked. The sides were taped together, and fairly easy to open.
It came with a brochure that let you know which ingredients were already in the box, and what you would need from your own kitchen (the usuals like salt and pepper, olive oil, a pan, etc.).
The step-by-step, easy-to-follow recipe followed in the succeeding pages.
The box had all of the ingredients needed for this dish, except salt, pepper, olive oil, the pans, oven, and kitchen sink. LOL.
In the recipe, it doesn't specify if you needed to peel the potatoes (I ended up peeling them). But I followed the rest of the instructions, in terms of cut and cooking methods (cook in pan + place pan in oven to roast).
While the potatoes were roasting in the oven, I went to work on the balsamic sauce. For the sauce, the box came with a balsamic glaze in a small circular container, a whole garlic, and Knorr chicken cubes (coincidentally, Knorr happens to be one of the brands I've handled for the longest time). Basically, it was just a matter of putting them all together in a pan.
Back to the potatoes. After removing the pan from the oven, the recipe called for stirring them in butter (included in the box) until the butter melted. I ended up throwing in some chopped carrots (from our fridge) for variety.
As for the steaks, according to the recipe, I was supposed to have cooked them in a pan then finished them off in the oven. However, since I had multiple steaks to take care of, I decided to use our griller instead — so I could cook all the steaks at the same time. While I'm no steak master, I tried my best to watch out for and cook according to each family member's preferred temp.
Et voila! Balsamic Sirloin Steak with a side of roasted potatoes and carrots, a la u Cookin (with some modifications by yours truly).
Now here are my thoughts on this service:
Pros:
- I've already liked the concept of a meal kit delivery service to begin with, so props to u Cookin for being the first one to provide this in the Philippines.
- Easy to place an order on their website and it's also easy to correspond with them (for coordinating delivery schedule, payment, etc.).
- Reasonably priced meals. I was so surprised that for the number of plates I came up with, I only paid PhP 850 for everything.
- The recipe was easy to follow. Even relatively new cooks can whip up a good meal.
- u Cookin is expanding their menu. As of today, they added five new meals, which you can already pre-order.
Cons:
- Only one mode of payment (BDO). I hope they include an online payment service (i.e. PayPal or via credit card), or at least expand to other banks or via payment centers.
- Particular to this dish at least, the serving size could be bigger. The steak and veggies only occupied half of a standard size plate. I'm not sure if the serving sizes are bigger for their other menu items.
- No weekend deliveries. If you're planning to cook on a weekend, expect to refrigerate or even freeze the ingredients upon delivery on a weekday.
Minor cons aside, I'm quite happy that u Cookin is now here, and when I run out of recipe ideas, I'm most likely going to order again from them.
I'm pretty sure that this service will be helpful to those who live in condos or have smaller kitchens, or couples and small families (since the ingredients are already portioned; there's no wastage whatsoever). Newbies in the kitchen won't be intimidated either (believe me; I used to be deathly afraid of stepping into the kitchen) because it's quite easy to follow their recipe/s.
And since they've expanded their menu, you can easily try to whip up different dishes — or get ideas and invent your own dishes.
To place an order, visit their Facebook page and follow the order link. And please don't forget to indicate that you learned about the service from me, Tina Araneta, if you decide to give them a shot!
Thanks, u Cookin, for this awesome service! And for those placing an order anytime soon, HAPPY COOKING!
