In the Kusina

My Seasonal Filipino Cooking

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Pub Date Apr 08 2025 | Archive Date Apr 07 2025

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Description

A brightly flavorful, artfully presented celebration of chef and tastemaker Woldy Reyes’ heritage, featuring more than 100 recipes for classic Filipino dishes updated to be lighter, fresher, and vegetable-forward.

Growing up in Southern California as a first-generation Filipino American, Woldy Reyes felt like an outsider, always straddling two worlds. At home, his family ate adobo with rice, gathered in the kitchen to roll lumpia, and roasted a whole goat in the backyard to make kalderetang kambing (celebratory goat stew). At school, all he wanted was Lunchables and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. It wasn’t until he discovered the power of food as a means of connection—to strangers and friends, to his heritage, and even to himself—that he began cooking in earnest and sharing his story through the dishes he made. His signature style, now beloved by his catering clients in New York City and beyond, highlights classic Filipino food but with a focus on local, seasonal produce and artful presentation.

In the Kusina is Woldy’s story told through a collection of vibrant, vegetable-forward recipes and his distinct lens as a queer Filipino American. These aren’t your lola’s traditional dishes; here, Filipino tastes and techniques are reimagined for a new generation of home cooks, resulting in a trove of elegant and boldly flavorful recipes organized by season, including:
  • Garlic Furikake Rice with Fried Egg
  • Pancit Salad
  • Adobo Green Beans
  • Kabocha Squash Lumpia 
  • Decadent hot and cold drinks, luscious desserts, and much more
 
Featuring inspired combinations of texture, technique, and flavor, these recipes are uncomplicated yet taste complex. A section covering foundational sauces and pantry items—such as Coconut Hot Sauce, Miso Mushroom Bagoong, and Sweet and Spicy Banana Ketchup—rounds out the offering and makes it easy to begin experimenting with Filipino flavors.

Brimming with gorgeously stylish photos of food that’s as lovely to look at as it is to eat, this is more than just a carefully curated selection of recipes. In the Kusina is a joyful story told in Woldy’s charming voice, a love letter to Filipino food, and, most of all, a cookbook filled with delicious recipes that you’ll turn to again and again.

UNIQUE TAKE ON FILIPINO CUISINE: Woldy's approach to Filipino food is light, fresh, and uniquely his own. His focus on in-season ingredients and beautiful presentation transforms classic Filipino dishes into contemporary renditions that will appeal to first-generation and modern home cooks looking for novel recipes with Asian influence.

SEASONAL COOKBOOK: In the Kusina highlights the benefits of eating with the seasons, shopping at your local farmers market, and enjoying produce in its prime, which is better for you as well as the planet. Organized by season, these colorful, healthy recipes show you how to make plant-based and vegetarian dishes that taste divine, sing with flavor, and leave you feeling nourished and energized.

COOKING GIFT: With a distinctive exposed binding, gorgeous cover, and interiors brimming with artful images, this luxe book looks as beautiful as the recipes taste. Perfect for gift-giving or displaying on a cookbook shelf, kitchen island, or coffee table.

Perfect for:
  • Fans of Asian cuisine, including the food of the Philippines
  • Curious home cooks who love trying new recipes
  • Filipino Americans eager to enjoy dishes they grew up with in a more veggie-forward way
  • Eco-conscious eaters looking to incorporate more plant-based meals into their diet
  • Birthday, wedding, or housewarming present for food lovers
A brightly flavorful, artfully presented celebration of chef and tastemaker Woldy Reyes’ heritage, featuring more than 100 recipes for classic Filipino dishes updated to be lighter, fresher, and...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781797227849
PRICE $35.00 (USD)
PAGES 280

Available on NetGalley

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Average rating from 14 members


Featured Reviews

Oh so fun and oh so beautiful!! The lime cake was a hit as most of the dessert sections of this book were. I loved how everything was split up between seasons. That makes it so much easier to look for recipes if you want to stick to cooking with ingredients that are in season. The photos accompanying the recipes were gorgeous and I loved the color scheme. I can't wait to try more recipes.

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I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful cookbook, full of delicious looking recipes. There are so many that I can't wait to make!

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I didn't know much about Filipino cooking before reading this book. I appreciated the background and the emphasis on plant-based recipes. I liked the formatting of the book by seasons. I am interested in trying some of the adobo recipes in the future.

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𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢 is first-generation, Filipino-American chef Woldy Reyes’ take on the recipes from his family and cultural background. His Southern Californian roots and stylish New Yorker flair are evident in his choice to center a cookbook around the concept of “vegetable forward, seasonal cooking” and artful presentation.

As a Filipino-American myself, I was excited to see a contemporary, vegetarian take on familiar foods. After going over some of his personal history, his cooking principles, and key ingredients, Reyes presents recipes for various sauces and condiments and then dishes for winter, spring, summer, and fall. Recipes range from simple and straightforward to more modern and inventive, and all are accompanied by beautiful environmental images and appetizing food photography. I am most excited to try the blueberry bibingka recipe.

As cool and inspiring this cookbook is, I was very disappointed to see two of favorite Filipino flavors missing from its pages—mango and ube. (I realize ube may be difficult to locally source in the US, but it could have been interesting to see a recipe with perhaps yam as a substitute.) Nevertheless, 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢 is still a remarkable work and I look forward to seeing more of Reyes in the culinary world. Thank you to Chronicle Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I love Filipino food and am always looking for new, creative recipes that capture the vibrant flavors of the food. While these are the traditional foods that I grew up eating, it is refreshing to see them all reimagined in a vegetable-forward way, something that is not prevalent for them in the traditional sense. The ingredients, for the most part, will be easy to find for any home cook that has access to an Asian market but some items, such as calamansi, might be more difficult, and I wish there had been a substitute (although it’s not a perfect science and there really is no substitute for this unique fruit) recommended so these recipes don’t have to be skipped. . Gorgeous photographs highlight the locally-sourced, seasonally selected vegetables that showcase the recipes.

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As a Filipino/ American I’m so excited for this cookbook. I can’t wait to read more about the recipes in this book, and the whole section on Filipino sauces. I am so excited for this arc and I can’t wait to read more!

Full review to follow soon.

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Thank you Netgalley and Woldy Reyes for this ebook in exchange of an honest review

3.5 Stars

In the Kusina is a perfect combination of what it means to be Filipino-American. Woldy Reyes pays homage to his culture and the roots where it came from, but also simultaneously creating a fusion of traditional recipes that fit with his unique, American identity. Uniquely vegetarian takes with mixed flavors, I praise his creativity, especially with Chili Oil Lugaw, which is a staple that I also consume in my household.

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i requested this book primary by word of mouth...that this cookbook is really really good. i read it on my kindle mainly because of instant gratification, curiosity. never did I expect a cookbook would make me tearful and emotional.

omg those stories, so personal, sincere and heartwarming. Woldy takes you on a journey with him. every recipe generously shared to us holding special personal memories tied in from each story, it was such a treat.

All I can say is GET IT IN APRIL NEXT YEAR WHEN IT COMES OUT! the story was so good and the recipes was delectable!

thank you

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Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit that I have very little experience with Filipino cooking. It's not easily found in my area of rural Oklahoma.

I'm very excited to be able to learn to cook it for myself, and also have even more vegetarian dishes to add to our meals.

The recipes are very easy to follow, and I also deeply appreciate seeing photos of the ingredients packaging so I know what to get the next time I visit my favorite Asian market. It can be very confusing when you are inexperienced with cooking a new to you cuisine with imported ingredients that might not be in English.


Unfortunately some ingredients are going to be hard to find if you don't have an Asian Market, or other store that caries a lot of Asian ingredients and vegetables. Thankfully most of the shelf stable ingredients can be purchased online, but they will be much more expensive.

I can't wait to start working my way through cooking the recipes in this book, and the flavors look so bright and refreshing. I think there will be quite a few recipes that will become part of my regular meal rotation!

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In the kusina by woldy Reyes is an easy to follow, in depth collection of recipes that are mouth watering and delicious, I can't wait to try them all, they are perfect.

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This cookbook is so fun! Whenever I pick up a cookbook, I look for recipes that are a little out of my comfort zone or have ingredient inclusions that I am unfamiliar with. I try to explore and grow my palate even when not traveling, but I also try to spice things up in my kitchen. This cookbook gave me that! The only note I'd say is that the photo placement was sometimes confusing as it was always changing between the pages. I'm a big fan of a photo for every recipe and when the positioning changes or additional photos or added in, the layout can mess with the flow. Overall, the recipes are straightforward and I'm excited to make the dishes!

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This is a fantastic celebration of Filipino food, featuring over 100 colorful recipes that give a fresh, veggie-forward twist to classic dishes. As a first-generation Filipino American, Woldy used food to connect with his heritage and share his story, and this book reflects that journey.

You'll find seasonal recipes like Garlic Furikake Rice with Fried Egg, Pancit Salad, and Kabocha Squash Lumpia that are not only delicious but also easy to make. Woldy focuses on lighter, in-season ingredients, transforming traditional recipes into modern favorites.

With beautiful photos and a warm narrative, this book is more than just a cookbook; it’s a love letter to Filipino cuisine. It's perfect for anyone curious about Asian food, looking to try plant-based meals, or wanting a stylish gift for food lovers. You’re going to want to dive into these recipes!

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