Filipina cook Abi Marquez – known to her fans as the “lumpia queen” – began her journey to TikTok stardom as an award-winning food content creator when she posted her first online cooking video in 2021. Now she is hungry to maximise her next big opportunity: publishing a cookbook.
“I'm really excited about it because, as everyone knows, I don't really measure when I cook,” she tells The National. While she can't divulge exactly how that will work just yet, she describes the book as a natural progression after carving out a career as a social media influencer. She has built a community of almost eight million followers in three years.
Marquez, 24, posts quick and snappy cooking videos on her social media pages, with TikTok as her most-followed platform. As the designated chef at home, she uses her phone to take clips while cooking and then posts them online. The initial intention, she says, was to simply “archive the recipes”.
“I would just film the everyday dishes we would eat as a family,” she explains. In 2021, one of her videos, a simple canned tuna pasta dish, went viral – and that's when she knew she was on to something.
“People found value in that quick video, and I was also really enjoying what I was doing. I just did it over and over again and here I am now, still doing the same thing,” says Marquez, who uses the word “same” loosely. She now has a production team to help dish up her viral videos.
Becoming the 'lumpia queen'
Marquez's following grew even further when she started producing experimental videos inspired by lumpia, popular Filipino spring rolls. The dish uses a thin paper-like skin, the lumpia wrapper, to encase a variety of fillings, with the more traditional ones being ground chicken or pork.
After catering for a friend's birthday party, Marquez found herself with excess wrappers, as well as a few packs of marshmallows and chocolates. “I saw those ingredients and wondered if I could fry marshmallow and chocolate inside lumpia wrappers,” she says. The video went viral, attracting more than one million views within three hours of posting.
“I just had this feeling in my gut that it was maybe something I could do a lot,” says Marquez. “I went all in and did the exact same dish for the rest of the week, around four videos in total. Every time I'd post it, it would go viral.”
She's since used the same experimental format with other ingredients, her most popular being a lumpia version of peach mango pie by popular Filipino fast food chain Jollibee.
Her growing success has led to international acclaim. Last year, Marquez was named TikTok's foodie creator of the year. Earlier this year, she bagged a trophy at the prestigious Webby Awards, which recognises “excellence on the internet”. She was also nominated in the social media account of the year category at the 2024 James Beard Media Awards, recognising her TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube content.
Championing Filipino food
When she accepted her trophy at the Webby Awards at the New York ceremony in May, Marquez declared: “Philippines, this is for you”.
That patriotism has always been naturally embedded in her content, often featuring Filipino recipes. “Everything started out as a hobby or just for fun, but I would see a lot of comments from people sharing their stories with Filipino food. I think I found a greater purpose for my platform,” says Marquez.
“I'm so happy that Filipino food is starting to become a little mainstream,” she adds. “Right now, people are raving about ube, for example, but wait until they discover our regional dishes, and learn more about the role food plays in our culture as Filipinos.”
Recently, Marquez has been collaborating with other popular content creators – from Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng, known for his Uncle Roger character, to Italian influencer QCP – with the intention of further showcasing Filipino food on global platforms.
Social media, she says, has been a strong vehicle for championing Filipino culture and spreading awareness. “We are learning more about our own cuisine, and we are learning more about how to share it with other people or other nationalities,” she says.
Being described as a global ambassador of Filipino food carries some pressure, she admits, but Marquez fully understands the responsibility that comes with her platform and influence. “Pressure is the number one enemy of creativity, so I try not to be affected by it,” she says.
Food content creation as a full-time job
Marquez was still in university when she started to find her footing online, but established a full-time career as a digital content creator in the years since.
“I went viral a couple of times during the first month of posting videos, but it wasn't until the second month when I started receiving opportunities,” she recalls.
“It started with brands sending free products in exchange of a feature, and then endorsement opportunities came after that,” says Marquez, who explains how creators have different ways to earn money from their content.
For her, brand deals prove to be lucrative, while others would rely on monetisation schemes by platforms such as TikTok's creator fund or YouTube's partner programme. There are also affiliate schemes and subscription pathways and some creators employ more than one way to make money, says Marquez.
She admits that she does worry it could all be fleeting and that her online spark could fade, especially with the nature of social media. “Every creator knows that everybody wants shiny new things, so what works now may not work for the next year or the next two years,” she says.
“It's one of our responsibilities as content creators to make sure that we keep making content that is relevant and valuable to our audiences.”
