Home cook Irene Rose Ortega was hailed as the first-ever ‘Kusina Kween’ as her leveled-up mechado dish emerged as the winning entry in Cinema One’s cooking challenge last Christmas.

Irene turned the well-loved Pinoy dish mechado more special by incorporating cheesy white sauce and rice and coined it as Cheesy Mechadito Rice Bake. “The Noche Buena Challenge’s” winning recipe is now up on Cinema One YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, Marie Reyes emerged as the first runner-up with her Seafood Paella con Bagnet—a recipe which enriched paella’s mouth-watering explosion of flavors through the addition of everyone’s favorite bagnet.

Maribeth Saporas won second runner-up with her Christmas EmBundtido Wreath with Orange Marmalade Sauce dish, where she combined chicken cordon bleu, chicken galantina, and embutido in one festive recipe.

Finally, third runner-up Christine Cruz gave an English twist to the classic Pinoy dish caldereta with her Chicken Caldereta Shepherd’s Pie, where she baked caldereta with homemade mashed potatoes a la shepherd’s pie—a dish which originates in England.

Irene took home a P50,000 cash prize and a Kyowa air fryer oven for her feat. Aside from having all their recipes aired on Cinema One last Sunday (January 30), Marie, Maribeth, and Christine also each received a Kyowa air fryer oven as a consolation prize.

Judges of Cinema One’s “Kusina Kween: The Noche Buena Challenge” include restaurateur, award-winning author, and the man behind “Simpol” Chef Tatung Sarthou and recipe developer and one of YouTube’s top Pinoy food bloggers, Vanjo Merano of “Panlasang Pinoy.”

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