NINONG Ry is now a name synonymous with mouthwatering Filipino cuisine and entertaining online content.

Ryan Morales Reyes in real life, this culinary chef turned content creator and vlogger has taken the internet by storm, attracting audiences with his unique recipes, humorous commentary, and engaging style. But his journey to fame was far from easy. It took resilience, passion, and the power of family support to get him where he is today.

The early years

Before becoming the internet sensation most, if not all, Filipinos know today, Ninong Ry’s path to culinary excellence began when he was inspired by preparing a simple bowl of lugaw (rice porridge) for his family in childhood. The early experience ignited a passion for culinary arts that would eventually become his life’s calling.

“I have a core memory from around Grade 2 or Grade 3. For some weird reason, my mom told me to cook lugaw (rice porridge). I told her I didn’t know how to cook it. She told me to just start and sauté [the ingredients].

“But at that time, I wanted to go outside and play. I was annoyed with my mom to the point that I eventually sautéed the chicken so intensely I almost turned it into mush.

“Then she told me to add the rice, boil it, and watch it. Before I knew it, my uncle arrived, tasted the lugaw, and asked who cooked it because he loved it,” Ninong Ry told The Sunday Times Magazine in an interview.

“That’s when I first felt the satisfaction of providing pleasure to someone else through cooking. When you’re a child, you want to make your parents laugh, but there are other ways to achieve that, like providing pleasure to others through cooking,” he continued happily.

From then on, Ninong Ry realized he had some cooking skills in him.

Fast forward to just before he entered college, when he needed to decide what course to pursue. Nursing was the trend, while his other friends wanted to be engineers and architects or pursue other professions.

Young Ryan knew he was passionate about cooking but never seriously considered it a career. His mindset changed when his guidance counselor pointed him in the right direction.

“In fourth-year high school, you’re faced with the critical decision of what you’ll do with your entire life. It’s like being 16 years old is the defining moment that will dictate your future. Now, I was never really good at school. I wasn’t academically gifted. I wasn’t a standout student. But I did have something I loved, which was eating.

“Then, my guidance counselor suggested that I try culinary arts. So eventually, I enrolled in a culinary degree program at De La Salle University-College of St. Benilde, and thankfully, I graduated,” he recalled.

However, after completing his studies, Ninong Ry was sidetracked and briefly detoured into the world of online gaming, enjoying a year of relaxation and downtime.

Fate, however, really wanted him in the culinary world as his former boss-chef, where he had worked as an on-the-job trainee, offered him a job.

“He said, ‘Hey, do you have a job? You can come back here, we’re short-staffed.’ That’s where it all began. So, one year after graduation, I started working at the former Hyatt Hotel & Casino Manila, now New Coast Hotel Manila. I worked in the banquet kitchen for events.”

The setbacks

A few years later, he was on the verge of a major career breakthrough when he was considered for promotion to a head chef position. Unfortunately, circumstances didn’t align as expected, and he didn’t make the cut.

“I found out they asked someone else to decide whether to regularize me or not. In the end, I wasn’t renewed for the job. I remember I was crying on my way home while riding my motorcycle. I almost had an accident because of that,” Ninong Ry openly shared.

This setback led him down a different path again as he ventured into the supply business for cargo ships. It was through a chance encounter with a former girlfriend whose father was a ship’s captain that the opportunity opened for the downhearted chef.

Eager to make it outside the kitchens, another challenge came his way when a truck ban disrupted the cargo ship business, causing him to lose clients. Fate gave him a much-needed break when Ninong Ry suddenly met a group interested in starting a restaurant business and asked him to be their head chef.

“They said they saw my beautiful food photos on Instagram. I asked if they were sure [about hiring me], but I also thought I’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity.

“So, when I accepted, even though I felt unprepared, I learned everything on the job. I was determined to work hard to improve and prove myself,” Ninong Ry enthused.

However, the restaurant venture also had its share of disappointments as Ninong Ry eventually had issues with the owners, forcing him to finally resign.

A month later, Ninong Ry lost his father and took over the family business, which involved selling chicken in the market. However, the pandemic affected the business with restrictions on market operations implemented.

The rise

In search of a distraction from all the difficulty, Ninong Ry bought a personal computer from a shuttered computer shop and returned to gaming. But soon enough, gaming could no longer appease his anxiety.

Looking for another outlet, he returned to cooking, recording himself recipe after recipe and began sharing them online.

“I said I’ll make a video using my cellphone. I cooked a simple dish, uploaded it, and it received a lot of likes. It was just a sizzling burger steak, which was back in August 2020. Some people even started asking for the recipe. And since I had a computer by then, I used it for video editing. Luckily, I had some editing skills from school projects. That’s where I began,” recalled the celebrity vlogger.

“A friend had been urging me for a while to start vlogging, saying I had the skills and personality for it. I used to make excuses like I didn’t have the time and was too busy. But my friend messaged me again, saying, ‘You don’t have a job right now, what’s your excuse?’

“So I went all in. I had a little money left, so I had a logo made. I told myself, ‘I’ll pour all my attention into this. I can’t keep dwelling on what happened because of Covid and the loss of my father. I need to distract myself.’

“I wasn’t great at editing, but I did it anyway. I spent six hours editing a three-minute video,” Ninong Ry laughed. “I wasn’t experienced, so I was just feeling my way through it.”

The turning point came with his video on sizzling crispy kare-kare, which boasts over 662 million views on Facebook and counting. The viral video landed him online stardom, and the Ninong Ry brand was officially a hit.

Ninong Ry’s popularity grew exponentially as he continued creating engaging and entertaining content. He gradually monetized his content, earning income through his videos.

Although his initial earnings were modest, the support from his family, especially his mother, encouraged him to focus on his newfound career.

“The first money that came in was probably just $3, a small amount, but I showed it to my mom. I asked her if it was okay for me to focus on this because money was coming in. She agreed,” said Ninong Ry.

“Honestly, if she hadn’t agreed, I would have gone back to the market. But my mom was incredibly supportive. She’s the one who had the kitchen set up. I even said that my greatest asset wasn’t my skills or personality, but the support of my family,” he added, visibly touched.

One of the remarkable results of the vlog was providing Ninong Ry the ability to pay off his debts, which had accumulated over the years.”I’m not very comfortable talking about money, but I need to share this. Before Ninong Ry came into the picture, when I was earning only P500 per day at the restaurant, I was in a lot of debt. I owed hundreds of thousands.

It all started with a small credit card bill. Being young and inexperienced in life, I just paid the minimum amount. It reached a point where my minimum payment was larger than my salary, and my expenses kept increasing,” he confided.

“I was buried in debt. If you were to ask me what changed in my life when Ninong Ry came along, I can say that I can sleep better now because I’ve paid off my debts.

“I used to pray, ‘Lord, please let my debt disappear. Even if I just get paid minimum wage for the next 20 years, I’d be fine.’ But because I knew I was resourceful, I knew I could earn money. I just wanted to get rid of the shackles of debt, but it was so challenging,” he continued.

Ninong Ry shared he cried when he finally settled the amount he owed.

“It felt amazing. That’s what changed in me from vlogging — I’m more financially secure now. And you know what? The timing was perfect. The pandemic hit, and our family business struggled, too. If I wasn’t there to support, my family might have ended up in a much worse situation,” he added.

The star collaborator

Because of his online popularity, food brands started reaching out to Ninong Ry for collaborations. Knorr Professional is the latest to do so on September 7, naming the online celebrity their first-ever endorser.

Asked how he felt about it, he told The Sunday Times Magazine, “I tell my mom about this. It’s not just about getting paid by brands; it’s way more than that. When a brand chooses you, it means they are entrusting their company’s reputation to you. To me, that’s a huge deal.

“Knorr isn’t just a small business. These brands are multimillion-dollar businesses, but they chose you to represent their brand. I can’t fully comprehend how they arrived at that decision. That’s why I’m truly grateful.”

During the launch, Ninong Ry introduced Knorr Professional’s campaign dubbed “Sarap That’s Truly Yours.” He held an interactive cooking demo and skillfully showed how the brand’s products, such as Knorr Liquid Seasoning and Knorr Chicken Powder, work to elevate dishes and add modern twists to classic favorites like sisig and fried chicken. Having always used Knorr ingredients in his recipes, Ninong Ry knew exactly what to bring to the table.

“It feels amazing to represent a brand I’ve always believed in,” the famed online chef shared. “All you have to do is watch my videos from the past to know that Knorr has always been part of my craft as a chef. The flavor that it brings out in the dishes that I prepare is different, and as someone who always likes to add their own twist to traditional recipes, it helps that Knorr is made for versatile prep and authentic taste.

“I’m hoping food operators like me see just how big of a difference Knorr makes to ensure the dining satisfaction of our customers.”

The future

Ninong Ry is very much aware that his popularity in the digital world will not always be like this, nor will it be permanent. That is why, when asked about his future plans, he revealed he is setting his sights on business ventures outside the restaurant industry.

“You won’t be relevant forever, I understand that. It’s delusional to think that you’ll want to vlog forever. That’s nonsense; it’s not true. So, I’m currently saving up to start a business, but not a restaurant. I’m done with that. It will be a silent business, whatever it may be, enough to sustain the number of children I want. I want to have five kids, so I need a good income to make that happen,” he noted.

“But right now, I won’t stop planting seeds in fertile ground. As long as this stream of income is viable, I won’t stop, but at the same time, I can now invest in other things. What those are, you’ll find out later,” Ninong Ry finally teased.

Indeed, Ryan Morales Reyes’ rollercoaster journey from chef to market vendor to online sensation is a testament to the power of resilience and creativity. His story should serve as an inspiration to everyone — not just aspiring content creators and chefs — because his success is not only in cooking but in realizing one cannot do things alone and that family will always be there to help. Steeled by hard work and the support he needs, he can share joy and positively impact millions of viewers, one delectable dish and heartfelt video at a time.