Over 300 aspiring chefs from 52 schools and universities competed in the 2017 Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge (UCC) at the Philippine Trade and Training Center (Manila). This event was the culmination of the national roadshow that began last August 2016 in Cagayan de Oro and October 2016 at Cebu City.
UCC Judges composed of Culinary and Nutrition experts scrutinize entries.
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil graced the stage of the 2017 Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge.
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, who are both Ajinomoto endorsers, also graced the event to provide encouragement for all the student-competitors and kicked-off the event’s highly anticipated awarding ceremony.
The National Cooking Showdown Champion for Best Filipino Umami Dish is University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines.
Best Filipino Umami Dish – National entry: Grilled Vegetables and Boneless Bangus Stuffed with Sweet Potato.
The National Cooking Showdown Champion for My Own Umami Creation is University of St. La Salle-Bacolod.
My Own Umami Creation – National entry: Pan Seared Salmon with Spicy Carrot Puree and Grilled Tomato.
The Grand Prize winners for the Ajinomoto® UCC’s National Culinary Showdown came from VIZMIN: University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines from Cagayan de Oro for the Best Filipino Umami Dish Category and the University of St. La Salle – Bacolod for the My Own Umami Creation Category. Each school received PHP 15,000.00 in cash, medals, and certificates. For the Luzon culinary competitions, the big winners were Perpetual Help College –Manila, Chiang Kai Shek College and Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The Umami Bowl Award and PHP 50,000-worth of kitchen appliances were bagged by St. Dominic College of Asia for receiving the highest accumulated score in major categories.
Luzon’s first place winner for Best Filipino Umami Dish is Perpetual Help College -Manila.
Best Filipino Umami Dish – Luzon entry: Bringhe Piyanera Chicken Roulade.
Luzon’s first place winner for My Own Umami Creation is Chiang Kai Shek College.
My Own Umami Creation – Luzon entry: Zucchini Noodles in Coconut Water.
Luzon’s first place winner for Umami Master 2017 is Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Umami Master 2017 – Luzon’s winning entry: Tempeh Triangles with Yogurt Sauce on Lemongrass Risotto.
St. Dominic College of Asia is the Umami Bowl Champion of the 2017 Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge.
The Ajinomoto® UCC is an annual inter-school culinary competition that started in the year 2009. This event provides a training ground for future chefs and nutrition professionals to enhance their cooking skills and nutrition awareness. It is part of Ajinomoto’s “Eat Well, Live Well.®” advocacy to promote the benefit of umami taste in preparing deliciously nourishing recipes. The panel of judges is composed of Food and Nutrition luminaries invited to offer valuable insights to student-competitors on how to apply culinary skills and nutrition knowledge in the creation of nourishing umami dishes. This event is presented by AJINOMOTO PHILIPPINES CORPORATION in partnership with La Germania, Solane, Masflex, Fujidenzo and Anvil Publishing, Inc.
A spread of umami or delicious food.
To all the winners, participants, and organizers, congratulations for a successful event!
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Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC), established in 1958, is an affiliate of Tokyo-based Ajinomoto Co., Inc. APC lives by its promise to provide consumers products that will always give the delicious taste, healthy and nutritious meals as embodied in APC’s slogan Ajinomoto® “Eat Well, Live Well.®” APC’s complete line of quality food and seasoning products are produced by international affiliates and local factories using Ajinomoto’s license, quality standards, and technological expertise. APC’s products include AJINO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning, Ajinomoto® Brand Ginisa Flavor Seasoning Mix, Ajinomoto® Brand Chicken Powder, PORKSAVOR® All-in-One Seasoning Mix, CRISPY FRY® Breading Mix, CRISPY FRY® Seasoned Crumbs, TASTY BOY® All Purpose Breading Mix, AJI-SHIO® Seasoning Mix, Ajinomoto® Brand Sinigang Cube SARSAYA™ Oyster and Sweet and Sour Sauce and “amino FRES-C” Instant Juice Drink.
10 Comments
ROBERT LEE | Amazing Life Daily
Congratulations to the winners. It is actually nice to see these kinds of contests, and truth be told, it is marketing, but since the company is marketing their product anyway, might as well do it the right way.
What I mean is that instead of pushing out ads on TV, taking it to the ground level with events like staging competitions is better. In fact, I think they actually spend less than on TV, for example.
Nora
Congrats to the winners! It sure would have been interesting to be there and see them in action and see how all those dishes are made. I became hungry by just seeing the photos, haha! Thanks for sharing 🙂
KT Nielsen
Huge congratulations to all the winners. It must be so exciting to win especially if cooking is your passion. When I was in high school I used to join cooking contests too. I wish there are more contests like this and there would be different categories. Maybe involve real cooks at home without the necessary sob story and minus the text votes. Wink!
theresa
Congratulations to all the winners. My dream career is to own a restaurant but how ironic that I don’t know much about cooking. I promise that this year, I will practice harder in cooking more dishes. Plus I want to practice plating as well. Just like the contestants in the challenge.
Mica de Leon
Oh wow, this is really good marketing. Good not only for the brand but good for the schools offering culinary programs too. Congratulations to the winners, the dishes looked original and YUMMY!
Iza Abao
I would like to taste the Zucchini Noodles in Coconut Water. It sounds refreshing and delicious. This is a superb competition. I would like to be part of the audience if there will be a free taste of the food. Haha! Congratulations to all the participants.
Maaya Legaspi
All of their creations looks very delish!! Especially the pan seared salmon. I wonder how do they judge this kinds of dishes especially if there are a lot of contestants. Whomever the judges are, they’re so lucky to be tasting such yummy masterpieces. Good to know that there are contests like this that showcases people their love for food.
Maria
Congrats to them also! I strongly feel happy about culinary works. It’s really going to be great especially to those who love cooking or anything related to it. Do you love culinary arts too?
Me-An Clemente
The highlight of your post for me is Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano. I didn’t know they are Ajinomoto endorsers. There’s just an irony for me for Ajinomoto’s advocacy. They promote umami tasting nourishing dishes. But then when you think deeply, if one is to have a healthy lifestyle, one must avoid dishes with MSG.
Laveena Sengar
A big congratulations. I really admire the people who are great with cooking. I would love to really learn something.