2020 might not have gone the way we planned, but at least we had a lot of fun talking about all the food trends that made our days at home a little brighter—from frothed coffee and other Tiktok cooking ideas to cakes that are either hyper-realistic or those that kept things simple.
At a time when people are probably looking back at all the food trends that defined 2020, (we’ve put ours together as a gift guide so you can share with your loved ones!), we figured it would be a lot better to list down all the flavors we think we’ll be snacking on in 2021.
More local flavors making it big—worldwide
Finally, finally, the world fell in love with ube this year—it’s what the queen deserves. For 2021, though, we’re hoping to see other local flavors shooting up to global success. Personally, we’re rooting for taro, sili, pandan and pili as flavors that’ll go big next year
Based on what we’ve seen this year, though, it looks like our beloved sticky rice treats are working their way up to world domination. Just take a look at the kakanin donuts making it big in New York. Nevertheless, we’re keeping an eye on which local flavor gets on the international stage next year.
Everything reinvented as ice cream
If everything was cake in 2020, everything will be ice cream in 2021. We don’t mean this as a joke, especially if you consider the rising number of food being reinvented as ice cream products.
Leading the way is The Lost Bread with its Haw Haw, Peter’s Butter Ball, espasol and choco butternut ice cream products this year. Diet plan delivery service The Sexy Chef also rolled out its vegan-friendly taho ice cream. And recently, Banapple turned its signature banoffee pie into a pint of frozen dairy goodness as well. Need we convince you further?
A wider plant-based food variety
This year saw the rise of plant-based food worldwide. Fast food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King have jumped on the bandwagon and rolled out plant-based versions of their famous burgers.
[READ: If you loved Burger King’s meat-less Whopper, here are other plant-based burgers to try]
With these burgers’ popularity going off the charts (Burger King’s new plant-based offer even got temporarily sold out during its launch), we can see more restaurants and businesses latching on to the trend. We’re actually wondering when KFC’s plant-based fried chicken would make its way here to the Philippines.
While most of the plant-based food we’ve seen so far are meat alternatives, we also found out that there’s plant-based egg and mayonnaise that add some variety to the menu. What else will 2021 add to the table? Guess we’ll find out soon.
The new normal is a bake
A lot of quarantine food trends have come and gone—but not the sushi bake. Thanks to the work of quarantine chefs everywhere, we’ve moved past deconstructing California maki and salmon teriyaki—we can now also enjoy baked versions of tacos and samgyupsal. And with restaurants like Ooma and Gochu Gang making sushi bakes part of their menu, we’re pretty sure we have yet to see the last of these savory baked goodness.
So while we’re on the topic of food from different countries turning into baked platters, we’re kind of hoping we’ll see more baked versions of some of our local favorites—like embutido rice bakes or sisig bakes.
Another Korean food trend
Dalgona, minimalist cakes, cream cheese garlic bread—a lot of quarantine food trends this year were actually inspired by Korean treats. That’s why we won’t be surprised if the land of K-Dramas and K-Pop produces another major food trend next year.
If the trends that made waves worldwide were any indication, we’re placing our bets on pastries or drinks. Maybe tteok ppang, a fusion of regular cake and rice cake with a sweet red bean flavor? Or the luscious strawberry omelet bread, a street food which you can often buy in packs around Seoul?
Fresher takes on the banana-and-bread team-up
We’re sorry, but the old banana bread can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Because a lot of bakers have been finding bigger and better twists to our favorite banana pastry—ones that go beyond just adding an ingredient or two. Turon muffin is an example, and we’re starting to wonder if banana cue cheesecake is actually possible.
A rise in private sit-down restaurant functions
This isn’t a food trend exactly, but we do feel that more restaurants will be offering private sit-down dining options for the incoming year in observance of social distancing measures. Restaurants are already encouraging customers to reserve tables ahead of their visit and are only opening limited spaces, making shared meals more intimate between diners. Although private dining is not a new concept, new players scoping the field might introduce some new concepts in 2021 that will leave us curious enough to check them out.
Header photos courtesy of Veggie Guys and The Sexy Chef
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Every quarantine food trend so far, explained
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