I’m Jeeca (that’s actually short for Jessica) and I’m a food content creator and recipe developer passionate about creating easy yet tasty and flavour-packed vegan recipes. I share a lot of Asian recipes inspired by my travels and those I grew up enjoying.
It all started with my Instagram account thefoodietakesflight in April of 2015. I was fresh out of high school with a long summer break ahead of me and created the account as way to document the vegan food I was cooking at home. This all really began merely as a passion project that I worked on on the side throughout university. I’ve always had a deep appreciation for food, which I thank my parents for, since they exposed me to different cuisines and cultures very early on. I consider myself a foodie (having come from a family of foodies) while the taking flight part, is partly a mix of my love for travel and a symbolism of leaving my comfort zone (or the comforts of home or ‘nest’ as I should say)—hence the name The Foodie Takes Flight.
My love for cooking stemmed from an early age of watching people around me at home cook and also from the countless cooking shows I watched growing up. I taught myself a lot of what I know now, but also picked up a lot of tricks from my mother and grandmother who both love to cook. I found being in the kitchen very therapeutic and a perfect way to get my mind off the pressures of school. I really enjoyed (and still do, of course) experimenting in the kitchen and challenging myself by working with plant-based ingredients like tofu, mushrooms, beans, and turning these into dishes that would mimic those I love. I’d then take photos of the food I’d make, write about these, and share the recipe whenever I could.
Because of all that transpired over the first few months of starting my Instagram account, I discovered my passionate for cooking, creating, and sharing my recipes—and needless to say, I kept doing so over the next few years and really fell in love with what I was doing. I continue to share my creations and recipes in hopes to inspire others that vegan food can be delicious and approachable.
I also try my best to use as simple, easily accessible, and affordable ingredients as I can for my recipes so that anyone, no matter in which part of the world they live in, can be able to make these.
I’m really beyond grateful to all the amazing individuals I’ve met in this space over the years so thank you for being here and for joining me along on this journey.
I hope you enjoy my recipes as much as I love creating and sharing them.
You’ll find most Asian and Asian-inspired vegan recipes here. Since I grew up in the Philippines with a Chinese background, I grew up with a mix of East and Southeast Asian recipes, mostly from home cooked meals and from my travels.
You’ll find Chinese classics such as Sweet and Sour “Pork”, Homemade Wontons in ChiliBroth, Ginger and Scallion Noodles, Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu, Chili Garlic Oil Noodles, and more.
You’ll also find vegan versions of some of my favourite Filipino food growing up from Kare-Kare, Kaldereta, Salpicao, Tofu Sisig, and more.
Well, this is of course a personal preference but if you’re looking to get started on your vegan journey and are looking for a great substitute to meat, I can recommend starting out with a few of my tofu recipes.
If you’re looking for quick and simple (but still really hearty recipes), I can recommend checking out my noodle recipes.
I learned a lot growing up and seeing the people here at home cook. My mom was always in the kitchen and she learned a lot of tips and tricks from my ama (dad’s mom) and guama (my mom’s mom).
I also loved watching cooking shows growing up and would try out a lot of different dishes in the kitchen before I even went vegan.
You can find some of my kitchen and pantry essentials here.
Hmmmm… a really tough question but probably anything with rice or noodles!
When I’m not doing my usual cooking, shooting, editing, and creating content for my platforms, I love to keep myself busy.
I love doing pottery and creating my own ceramic pieces–from plates, spoons, cups, mugs, etc! A lot of the plates I use in my photos I made myself.
I also love the outdoors so whenever I get the chance to go on nature walks, hikes, and trips to the beach, I take the chance. I also love to climb.
Apart from these, I enjoy watching films and different TV show during my down time which is perfect at the end of a long day.
I of course also love to travel and eat as you may have seen on my social media accounts!
I use a Fujifilm X-T30 with 18-55mm lens for my photos. I use my iPhone 13pro set on HD60 1080fps for my short format videos.
I currently only use natural light for all my photos. I shoot my a window and use a simple board (with a white surface) or even small standing mirrors to help me reflect light.
You can see some behind-the-scenes in my Instagram highlights here! As well as some more latest behind the scenes HERE.