Ninong Ry opens up about childhood, handling online fame

You've probably heard of Ninong Ry, one of the newest internet sensations who rose to fame amid the quarantine.

Known for his hilarious cooking videos, the food vlogger graced an episode of "Brigada," and shared recipes for Lengua in Creamy Mushroom Sauce, Lengua Sisig, and Dila Asado.

He also spoke with GMA News' Darlene Cay about his childhood and his origins.

"Mahilig ako kumain, nung bata palang ako mataba na ko talaga, kasi tatay ko masarap magluto," he said.

Ry said he didn't inherit a single recipe from his father, but he did become influenced by his techniques and his attitude.

"Sarap lang attitude, no rules," he said.

Having garnered more than a million followers in the span of five months, Ninong Ry remains in disbelief over his success. He has even found himself being flagged down on the street by his fans, who would call him 'Ninong.'

He chose 'Ninong' as his screen name, because he said it was more uncommon than 'Tito,' and so he used it as his branding. His followers are called his 'inaanak.'

Ry attributed his popularity to the possibility that some people find it refreshing to view cooking videos that are not so refined.

"Tingin ko kasi sawa na ang mga tao sa msasyadong pino," he said. "May mga nagsasabi rin na ganyan ang tunay na pagluluto parang nasa bahay lang talaga."

For now, he simply strives to have fun and be as natural as he could in front of the camera.

Ninong Ry has over 1.4 followers on Facebook and 478,000 subscribers on YouTube.

He also has a website where fans can find recipes and a collection of his videos. —JCB, GMA News