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Kris Aquino teaches you a thing or two before you try making her macaroni salad recipe this Christmas!

Want to make your Christmas extra special? The Queen of All Media has your back!

Macaroni salad is a staple in every Filipino's handaan. A festive yet flexible dish, it can be served as a main course, appetizer, or dessert. And with just three simple steps to follow: Cook, Chop, and Combine - you can now serve the Christmas Macaroni Salad for the Noche Buena!

But before you begin, here are some advice from Kris Aquino herself. She shared these tips during the Lady's Choice Creamy Mayo Christmas salad-making session in Glorietta 2 last November 27.

1. Start slow, don't over-season

To achieve the perfect Christmas Macaroni Salad, Kris recommends to take it slow and enjoy the process. Like her, cooking should be a stress relieving hobby.

“It's easy to add, but very difficult to subtract. Mas madali na to under-season at the start and then later habulin mo rather than ang dami mong nilagay to begin with,” she said.

According to her, everyone has different cooking styles. Some do little steps at a time, while others go fast. Some follow the recipes in a precise manner, but Kris' style is to eyeball it. Meaning, she doesn't bound herself in rules and likes to experiment.

“Also, what I do is I mix the mayonnaise first so that it will emulsify. Hindi straight from the bottle.

"Parang you're putting some air into so that when you fold it into the macaroni it will be more delicious,” she added.

2. Avoid oiliness at all cost!

Another tip to ace the Christmas Macaroni Salad is to avoid the oily texture.

The perfect method to recreate Kris' signature pasta is to strain it well and leave it to cool, so that it will get a nice and firm profile once you start mixing.

According to Chef Kai O, the resident chef of Unilever, “It's wrong to let liquid stay kasi it's one of the reasons why our pasta would get oily.

"Our salads would get oily after two or three days kasi the pasta would absorb the liquid and then retain the oil outside.”

“You don't want your salad to be oily just like you don't want your skin to be oily, because oiliness is next to joblessness!” Kris followed up.

3. Go for al dente macaroni

“Don't overcook the macaroni” are Kris' words when asked about how she liked her salad.

“I prefer al dente because you're going to put something wet on it. So if it's already mushy to begin with, it's going to be soggy and you're not going to enjoy it,” she said.

Since Kris has a taste for a tender yet firm texture in her macaroni pasta, she opts to put as much chicken chunks as she likes.

Her extra tip: if you don't have the time to make the chicken yourself, you can always buy the rotisserie chicken because it already has the flavor.

4. Personalize it!

Kris emphasized that there's democracy in cooking.

If she didn't like a certain ingredient, she takes it out of the equation. And if she does like it, she make wonders!

“My other tip lang is that they actually have fresh white onions, but I do not like onions, so tinanggal.

“Only because sinabi sa akin na cure-all ang celery, and for all of those who told me to try celery juice, I tried it but I do not like it, so I like eating the celery itself.

"I like eating the vegetables so I'm trying my best to get all the vegetables and to put a little bit of celery.”

Another example she shared is that she doesn't like raisins because of the color, until she saw another chef who used golden raisins.

Kris was also familiar with the fact that in Visayas and Mindanao, they used a little bit of condensed milk along with the mayonnaise to give it a sweeter flavour.

In an instance you invited people who are pescatarians, Kris proposed putting kani, nori, and mango in the macaroni salad.

“Only because kuya Josh loves California maki, I wanted to try and see kung kaya with macaroni. And it did work! It was masarap,” she said.

“I think what's really nice also is that when you do put your own twist into it, you personalize it--you make it your family's tradition.

"So bahala na kayo kung sa family ninyo ay ayaw ng pineapple, palitan niyo, go ahead. It's a democracy. Change it.”

Kris also suggested that if you like it spicy, you can serve it with red chili flakes on the side. She noted that “Bimby really likes it with a little bit of that kick.”

5. Presentation means caring

“It's so important also na when you're going to serve it, please don't be sloppy,” the Queen of All Media said regarding the presentation of the dish.

With that, she believes that cheese adds something special in both the taste and aesthetic value of the Christmas Macaroni Salad. She recommends that in case you want to put a little bit of queso de bola, it will be extra special especially if you don't want to use processed cheese.

Kris also added that macaroni salad is a good way of getting your kids to eat veggies without them realizing it. For her, this is also very convenient as a Christmas gift.

“And I think also na kapag naglabas ka ng macaroni, parang 'Uy, nakakaluwag yung pamilya.' 'Di ba parang may ganong dating na 'Ay, nakuha na 'yung Christmas bonus.' Kasi, 'di ba, because it has a lot of recado,” she said.

6. Don't commit temperature abuse

It's simple: take only what you need.

“Once pinasok mo na sa refrigerator, and when you bring it out to room temperature, I was told na what you're going to bring out you have to consume,” Kris said.

Chef Kai agreed with that, “Ideally, that's what you do. It's one of the Food Safety lessons.”

What Kris does when she make a big batch of the delicious Christmas Macaroni Salad, she stores it in smaller portions. Chef Kai also added that if it is sealed in a clean, airtight container, the salad will last up to four or five days.

7. Christmas Macaroni Salad is meant for sharing

This grandiose yet easy-to-make dish transcends Christmas. You don't only see it in intimate gatherings, but usually on big celebrations where people are coming.

Kris stressed how this macaroni salad is meant for sharing.

“I think it's not something that would be there if apat lang kayo. It's meant for twelve of you and for it to be the type that's like 'Uy, pwede ba ko mag uwi ng macaroni mo?'

"And dapat nakahanda ka 'di ba, you should be prepared,” she said.

If these tips were able to shed some light to your cooking questions, you can now try recreating Kris Aquino's Christmas Macaroni Salad recipe.