'Sustainable culinary' ideas: Resorts World Manila chefs hatch dishes using organic cage-free eggs

MANILA, Philippines — Cage-free eggs are the latest organic craze in the dining scene worldwide.

In the Philippines, Resorts World Manila (RWM), claiming to be the first Integrated Resort in the Philippines, has a commendable shift toward using only cage-free eggs across all of its hotels, such as Hilton Hotel and Sheraton Hotel, as well as across its food and beverage outlets, in an effort to advocate sustainability in the culinary world. 

By 2025, the company aims to use organic cage-free eggs in all of its delectable dishes in an effort to push its sustainable cause.

With these efforts, RWM has won the praise of Lever Foundation, a United States-based international non-government organization, for its commitment to its sustainable culinary practices.

Cage-free eggs came from hens that are not kept in battery cages, and are allowed instead to move about the egg production barn. In one of the terrace areas of Marriott Hotel, the press members were given the chance to see the free-roaming hens under the care of RWM during the media launch of the campaign.

“Cage-free eggs are just the start. With 'I Love Earth,' we are uniting the efforts of RWM and all its hotel partners to promote not just sustainable operations throughout the property, but also sustainable living among our staff and all our stakeholders,” said the RWM Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President Kingson Sian.

Marriott Hotel Manila Executive Chef Meik Brammer chairs the Sustainable Culinary Committee of "I Love Earth" campaign, taking the lead in the joint sourcing of cage-free eggs of all the hotels and F&B outlets in RWM.

“Egg is a symbol of a new life or a start of something bright and sunny. Our pledge to use cage-free eggs is just one of the many things we are doing and we want to do in terms of Sustainable Culinary. It is an honor to be able to lay the groundwork in launching a noble endeavor, more so to become a part of jumpstarting a hardworking sustainability program such as 'I Love Earth',” Brammer said.

Batangas Free Range Chicken (BFRC) is one of the partners of RWM that supply sustainable products to the different hotels and F&B outlets. The organization sampled its egg products during the launch. BFRC, founded by Emerson Sicar, is a Social Enterprise (SE) which was born out of passion to provide alternative healthy poultry products and livelihood in the Philippines. 

Five of the hotels under RWM introduced its respective takes on the cage-free eggs through these new mouth-watering dishes served at their respective hotels:

'Cloud 9,' Hilton Manila

"It looks like a Cloud 9. To drive our concept of 'F&B Think global, Cook Local,' we've transformed the dish by infusing Filipino flavors. Instead of using bagel, we used the the look of the bagel but infused pandesal in it. Instead of using lemon, we used calamansi. Instear of using lettuce, we used paco beans," said Chef Lord Bayahan.

Sheraton Hotel Manila's 'Eggs Two Ways'

"We showcased the diversity of a single ingredient in this dish. 'Eggs Two Ways' is a soft boiled egg, seasoned with asin na tibuok from Bohol, truffle egg white cloud, with pure egg yolk. Together with this is adlai rice, a healthy rice high in fiber, and helps lower your cholesterol and sugar. I used the texture of the sweet potato in this, so enjoy your dish," Chef Francisco Santiago of Sheraton Hotel Manila told the press.

Hotel Okura Manila's 'Onsen Tamago'

“We have prepared the traditional Japanese dish called Onsen Tamago. It’s a traditional Japanese low temperature egg, slow cooked in hot water onsen,” Chef Ryuji Tsuchida said during the press launch. 

Chef Ryuji’s Onsen Tamago has the egg white taste like a delicate custard, while the yolk is creamy with rich flavors, as it is served with Dashi sauce Aonori.

Resorts World and Happy 8's 'Vegetarian Cage-Free Egg Randang'

Chef Goh Sew Kong and Chef Fook Lim Loh expressed that they wanted to "offer a healthy food."

This egg randang is a Malaysian style wok fried cage-free egg, with sauteed vegetables and brown rice. 

Marriott Hotel 'Tapsilog'

Chef Meik Brammer and Chef Rej Casanova "reimagined the Filipino breakfast staple tapsilog by using Batangas cage-free egg custard." The presentation of this dish is really creative, as the beef tapa flakes are served beautifully in an egg shell, with puffed rice inside, along with labuyo pearls and seasoned with calamansi.

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