How to make achuete (annatto) oil and water

If there was such a thing as makeup in Filipino food, it's the use of achuete or annatto to brighten up a dish.

Here are two ways to extract the coloring and flavor from #achuete or #annatto seeds. One is through heating the seeds with oil and the other one is with the use of lye water. I personally use the lye method since it gives me better control of the color.

This is what gives a bright orange color for dishes like pansit luglog, pansit palabok, sotanghon soup, and sometimes even Pinoy spaghetti.

Here's a link to the cooking guide on my website.

Have any questions about #achuete or #annatto seeds and how to use them? Comment below or send me a DM.

Love,
Tita Meg
#Cooking #FilipinoCuisine

---------------------------------------------
Tita Meg is Maria Ana (Marianne) Gonzalez de Leon Hudson, author of "The Secret is in the Sauce", 1997 winner of the National Book Award for Cookbooks and Food.

"Tita" is the Filipino word for "Auntie." Through the years, Tita Meg as taught her children, nieces, nephews, and their friends how to cook and eat well. She hopes to share her heirloom recipes with everyone around the world.

Follow Tita Meg at

Try out her recipes, upload a photo, and tag her @TitaMegCooks

------------------------------------------
Team Tita Meg Cooks:
Tita Meg: Marianne de Leon
Additional kitchen hands: Chai and Inna
Camera and video editing: Paolo
Music: YouTube Audio Library

[jdzla]

this was the only video in youtube which showed both methods. now i can pick and select more approprately for adobong pula. thanks tita meg!

[annjean]

Great video! 👍🏽
Thank you for sharing.

[archiecoral]

Hi tita megs thanks for this idea, we always use achuete seeds for miki soup and other ilocano recipes. We usually soak it with hoy water and its ready to use. Buy i will try to do your way by using cooking oil, God bless tita megs.

[adrianvilla]

Annatto is very rich in vitamin e..good for the skin and heal inflamations including cyst

[rowel]

Thank you for sharing this video, now I can have my own mang inasal oil which is my children's favorite dish♥️❤️❤️

[janethmiranda]

you look gorgeous and so classy madam while teaching us how to bled the annatto seeds and I love it :) thanks for sharing po :) God bless

[senasalcedo]

Thanks for sharing Tita Meg... I will use your methods. God bless po!

[ohen]

Just the thing I was looking for. I'm planning to cook Kare-kare for the first time tomorrow but I don't know where I can find atsuete and how to prepare it if ever I find one haha I don't want to use the ready-made sauces in sachets. Thanks for the tips!

[robsanty]

With the oil stored with the Annatto seed, would the seed impart a bitter taste overtime ?

[wailinglee]

Hello Auntie, may I know how much to use for a cup of milk? I'm trying to colour custard without imparting any flavour. Thank you.

[bigbalok]

so after you put the annatto oil in the jar where do you store it ? In the fridge? Thank you po.