“WHAT happens if we wrap… in lumpia wrapper?”
Surely, you’ve heard that line somewhere on the Internet or you have probably watched her videos experimenting on fillings of lumpia.
When Filipinos usually hear “lumpia,” commonly known as “spring rolls” in English, they think of pork, chicken, fish, togue or mung bean sprouts, “lumpiang sariwa” or fresh veggie mix, or “turon” which has sliced bananas as filling before it is fried and glazed in caramelized sugar.
Photo Courtesy: Abi Marquez | Instagram
But for Abi Marquez, there is room for unusual things. Have you heard of a lumpia with popcorn filling? What about suman or sticky rice cake as lumpia?
Think you know what her strategy is now? Think again. She also made lumpia versions from entire dishes of monggo guisado or mung bean stew, mac and cheese, and even desserts such as ube cheese. She literally ate the saying, “Don’t let them know your next move.”
One of her most viewed videos on TikTok is her lumpia version of a famous dessert from a fast-food chain company—the peach-mango pie—with over 31.1 million plays.
Photo Courtesy: Abi Marquez | Instagram
The 23-year-old University of the Philippines – Diliman Hospitality Restaurant Management graduate has built her brand on reinventing and elevating the well-loved Filipino party dish, with her fans crowning her as the Lumpia Queen.
She started her food content-creation two years ago and has become one of the top food content creators in the Philippines who now uses her platform to share Filipino dishes to the world.
Recently, Marquez was named as People’s Voice Winner in the General Social: Food and Drink Category of the 28th Webby Awards.
“Always been proud to highlight Filipino food,” Marquez said in a Tiktok video when she first announced her nomination.
Photo Courtesy: Abi Marquez | Instagram
The Webby Awards is an honour-giving body established in 1996 and presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, recognizing excellence in nine major media types, namely Websites and Mobile Sites, Video, Advertising, Media & PR, Apps & Software, Social, Podcasts, Games, and AI, Metaverse & Virtual.
Meanwhile, the food content creator expressed her happiness and tearful reaction on her Facebook account after she discovered that her lumpia videos received a total view of 1.138 billion, with a caption:
“THIS IS SURREAL. I LOVE YOU ALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING AND SUPPORTING MY VIDEOS AND FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT I LOVE FOR A LIVING. TO MAKING YOU GUYS HUNGRY AT THE WRONG TIME OF THE DAY, TO HELPING MORE HOMECOOKS EASE UP IN THE KITCHEN, TO PROVIDING LIVELIHOOD IDEAS TO FILIPINOS ”
Marquez was also awarded as the 2023 Food Content Creator Of The Year by Tiktok.
With reports from Marvin Cabalhin
