Cooking, Frame by Frame

Fran Agar is the newest content creator to look out for, creating art through stop-motion cooking.

Words Erika Anne Sulat
Photo courtesy of Fran Agar
October 27, 2025

Fran Agar, known online as penne.rice on TikTok and Instagram, is a content creator who produces and uploads stop-motion cooking videos on both platforms.

Her work is characterized by colorful, quirky themes combined with stop-motion effects that creatively showcase the cooking process. In these videos, the stop-motion technique highlights not just the preparation itself but also the conceptualization and arrangement of ingredients. Sometimes, chopped red and green chilies are combined to form a beating heart before being added to a Bicol Express dish.

@penne.rice Back in our province, my grandparents were known for selling ingredients for halo halo, including ube halaya. They’re both gone now but i randomly remembered them this week, so i made a huge batch of ube halaya and turned it into french toast. Ube french toast brûlée recipe: Icing 🧁 — softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar (I used brown sugar instead since i didn’t have powdered sugar and it still worked) Bread mixture 🍞 — eggs, milk, vanilla extract, ube extract (cinnamon powder is optional, i didn’t add one this time bc im sending this batch to my bestfriend who loathes cinnamon) Instructions: - stuff the bread with ube halaya. - mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, and ube extract. - dip the bread in the mixture until well coated. - melt butter in a pan, then fry the bread until golden on both sides. - spread icing on top of the french toast. - sprinkle sugar on top of the icing, then torch til caramelized. #stopmotioncooking #cookingasmr #ube #frenchtoast #shotoniphone ♬ original sound - fran

In an exclusive interview with Art+, Fran shared that she’s not a professional chef but a graduate of Multimedia Arts from the College of St. Benilde. She currently works as a creative director and co-founder of a local jewelry brand.

Art Fostered by Love and Learning

What kickstarted Fran’s journey into creating cooking videos was a thoughtful gift from two of her best friends—a dining set and a chopping board. Later, when her husband gave her her first cast-iron pan, she finally realized she wanted to start creating videos.

@penne.rice Propaganda i’m not falling for: pinoy food can’t be healthy 😠 this is how i cook bulalo!! 🍲 Recipe: - beef shank - onion - pepper corn - beef cube - patis - corn - potatoes - baguio beans - pechay / bok choy (some people use cabbage also) #fyp #recipe #stopmotioncooking #bulalo #asmrcooking ♬ original sound - 🦇

Her background in Multimedia Arts played a key role in producing her content, from lighting to editing, while her jewelry brand allowed her to put her creative skills into practice. The idea of using stop-motion came after she discovered a cooking video made with Lego. From then on, she decided to craft her own stop-motion cooking videos, infused with her distinct artistic style.

Creation from Observing

Fran’s videos don’t follow a storyboard. She begins conceptualizing once all her ingredients and tools are laid out on the table. “I ask myself, how do I make this playful and conceptual and, like, not boring?” she says. 

@penne.rice Italian sausage tomato basil pasta!! 🍅🌿 U can check my recipe at the @builtamart app <3 #FreshFastFamiliar #Builtamart #stopmotioncooking #shotoniphone #tomatobasilpasta ♬ original sound - fran

Each video takes hours to complete, the shortest production lasting around four hours and the longest taking up to seven. Editing is another challenge, as every frame has to be refined individually, usually taking an additional two to four hours.

Fran shares that her favorite video so far is the ube French toast brûlée—a dish inspired by her love of ube, which traces back to her childhood memories of her grandparents’ halo-halo ingredients business.

In another video, she recreates a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup in the style of the classic game Space Impact—an idea sparked by reminiscing about the games she and her husband used to play as kids.

@penne.rice The Philippines has been hit by a severe tropical storm & typhoon in just a week. Let’s help the peasant communities in bulacan, bicol, laguna, cavite, and rizal who were affected. I can’t put donation links here (it’s against community guidelines HUHU) but you can check out @ saka__ph on IG!! They already have a post with details on how to help our local farmers 🌾 Recipe for tinolang manok: - chicken thighs - garlic - onion - ginger (minced or chunky, whichever you prefer) - fish sauce / patis - chicken cube - salt & pepper - green chili - sayote (or green papaya) - malunggay I usually pair this with rice and patis with sili but u do u ⛈️ #stopmotioncooking #Recipe #tinola #tinolangmanok #cookingasmr ♬ original sound - fran

Some of her inspirations also come from popular media. Her signature overhead filming style, for instance, was inspired by Wes Anderson’s film Isle of Dogs, particularly the sushi-making scene. 

But more often, Fran finds ideas in everyday moments. From her friends’ interests and stories shared by her partner to the simple sound of her cat’s meow. “I just pay attention to everything,” she says. “Because part of an artist’s job is to actually pay attention.”