Asado buns are baked Filipino buns which are of Chinese origin. Originally, they are steamed (called Siopao) hence a white color. Both are very popular snack items. Asado is the name of the filling which is a type of pork stew. I used my asado recipe  for the filling. My recipe for honey roast pork may also be used to make char siu pork filling. If using this, a sauce of sugar, soy, sesame oil, a bit of water and corn flour must be added to the sliced meat to moisten the filling. The buns may be filled with anything, sweet or savoury. I actually filled some of them with custard which proved to be more popular with the kids.

All rights reserved ©Adora's Box Copyright 2011

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 I step closer to the carousel of the airport baggage section - I feel like I am sleep walking.  After spending the last 26 hours in airports and airplanes (and sleeping most of the time during the flights), I can't wait to get home.  I am feeling quite sluggish, but then a sudden gush of excitement kicks in, as I see my husband standing by the baggage claim. I tiptoe hurriedly to hug him and with a full smile I ask him:

"You told me I'll see you at the curbside..."

"I wanted to surprise you - Surprise!" he mumbled.

My heart fluttered.  It was one of those moments that make your heart smile.

"Are you happy to be home?", he asked.

"Of course" I whispered.

Then a loooong pause.

I realize how much fun I had the last 6 weeks, and I begin to realize that the words "of course" were only partly true. Haha.

And for the next few days, I (over)used the word "jet lag" for those days that I slept in all day.  Until a month has now passed... A month? Really?

That's how I've been the past few weeks here.  I'm just happy that my hubs didn't eject me like an old 80's mixed tape.  Nor did he ship me back to the Philippines for not being my usual self.  My kitchen has been quietly waiting for me to switch on the stove top. Take outs were the norm for most of those days.

That being said,  I would like to apologize to my Kulinarya buddies, as my  post is a tad late. But I didn't want to miss out on this one.  The challenge posed  is to take a Filipino standard and make it into a street food dish easily peddled through food trucks.  I know that  Filipino food is slowly getting out there, because Filipino food trucks across America are doing its work plying the streets, spreading Filipino food around.  With that in mind, I would like to introduce Chicken Inasal (grilled chicken) as a future food truck phenomenon.

Kare-kare is a Filipino stew with ox tail, tripe, and vegetables in thick peanut sauce. It’s usually served during special occasions perhaps because the procedure is painstakingly delicate. With the help of my mom, we both re-invented Kare-Kare to a vegan dish full of soulful flavor and familiar taste.

To replace the beef tripe, I resorted to something innovative found at vegan Vietnamese restaurants: Chinese Snow fungus. After soaking it in water, the chewy fungus provides the same texture as tripe minus the cruelty. Not to mention incorporating Snow fungus provides tremendous health benefits. In fact it is used as an herb in Chinese medicine. Win-win all around. Here’s what the package looks like:

Makes 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp garlic, crushed
• 1 large white onion, quartered
• 1 banana blossom, sliced
• 2 pcs eggplant, sliced
• 1 bundle pechay or Filipino bokchoy
• 1 bunch of Chinese Snow Fungus, soaked in water
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup roasted peanuts, finely grounded
• 1/2 cup roasted jasmine rice, finely grounded
• 1/2 cup string beans, cut to 2 inch slices
• 1/2 cup achuete or annato powder, fully dissolved in a 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 4-5 tbsp soy sauce
• cooking oil
• 3-6 tbsp fermented black bean garlic sauce (as condiment), available at most grocery stores

• On cutting the banana blossom, first peel the 3 outer layers, then slice the bud in six portions. Quickly soak them in water with salt otherwise its sap will turn black.
• Roast the jasmine rice in a pan over medium heat. Constantly stir for about 20 minutes or until rice is fully light brown. Pulverize in a food processor. Set aside.
• The annatto powder doesn’t dissolve instantly in water so soak for about 20 minutes before using.

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pot, bring the vegetable broth and anatto powder to a boil.
2. Meanwhile in a pan, saute the garlic with oil until fragrant. Followed by onions.
3. Add the eggplant, banana blossom, and soy sauce to the pan. Saute for another 10 minutes. Transfer the saute to the boiling pot.
4. Add the ground rice, ground peanuts and peanut butter. Mix and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Add the rest of the vegetables: pechay, string beans, and Snow Fungus. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Adjust the taste and consistency of the sauce by adding more vegetable broth or grounded peanuts. The sauce should be thick but not too gooey. The taste should be savory but not overpowering. Simmer until boiling.
7. Turn off the heat. Serve hot with black bean sauce and rice on the side.

YIELDS 4 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS:

4 clove garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 beef franks cut into cubes

12 Lucban Longganisa, removed from casing

2 (305g) cans of Cream of Mushroom

1 cup Tomato sauce

1/2 cup packed thinly sliced basil (chiffonade)

2 Tbsp cooking oil

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Parmesan cheese (to taste)

400g Cooked Spaghetti noodles (or any pasta)

PROCEDURE: 

1. HEAT OIL IN PAN.

         2. SAUTE ONIONS AND GARLIC.

3. ADD IN THE LUCBAN LONGGANISA AND THE BEEF FRANKS, COOK UNTIL COLOR TURN MEDIUM BROWN (8-10 MINS) . REMOVE MOST OF THE RED OIL THAT CAME FROM THE LONGGANISA.

4. ADD IN THE 2 CANS CREAM OF MUSHROOM AND 1 CUP OF TOMATO SAUCE. STIR TOGETHER THEN ADD 1 CUP OF WATER DEPENDING ON HOW THICK YOU WANT YOUR SAUCE TO BE LET IT SIMMER.

5. ADD THE THINLY SLICED BASIL. LET IT SIMMER FOR 2 MINUTES.

6. ADD PARMESAN CHEESE.

7. TOSS IN YOUR PASTA.

8. PLATE AND ADD GARNISH.

This is my first time to post my own recipe online and it really makes me giddy.

As you've noticed I didn't add salt on this dish simply because the beef franks that I used were salty already.  The only seasoning that I used was black pepper since the sausage and the beef franks are both well seasoned.

 Hope you try out this dish and enjoy it as much as I did. =)

When I was younger my mom and aunts cook bagoong with crispy pork on a regular basis but it does not look like the one on the photo as it contains more bagoong than pork, and that is why when this is served I usually pick on the crispy pork pieces as I love their strong sweet and salty taste and its crunchy texture.  Now that I am free to make this on my own, I will increase the amount of pork to my heart’s content.

This dish is a simple Filipino dish made out of crispy pork pieces dressed with bagoong sauce, a good dish paired with garlic fried rice.  If you want to try it out, I must warn you as the flavours of this one is so salty and strong. One small piece of pork will be more than enough for one heaping spoon of rice.  The smell will be also unpleasant for others specially for non-Asians so cook with wide open windows and doors and have your range hood in full blast.  Don’t tell me that I did not warn you.

Ingredients

500g pork belly 1/3 cup bagoong 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 6 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper freshly ground black pepper water oil

Method

1. In a wok add pork pieces, 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp of oil, bring to a boil and cook until water has totally evaporated. 2. Continue to cook until the pork fat releases the oil, add the garlic and put the heat on medium.  Fry it on its own oil until brown and crispy. 3. Add 2 tbsp of water and vinegar to deglaze. 4. Add the bagoong, sugar and cayenne, cook while continuously stirring for 2 minutes. 5. Serve with lots of rice.

Note : this recipe also appears @ Ang Sarap, original post can be seen here Crispy Pork Binagoongan

Kari kari, also called kare kare, is one of the all time favourite native dishes. It is a stew, usually made with oxtail or tripe or a variety of meat cuts (I used oxtail and shin of beef with marrow bone), with a rich peanut gravy that derives its characteristic yellow color from annatto seeds. Ground fried or roasted peanuts and ground toasted rice grains provide richness to the sauce. Although modern cooks use peanut butter, ground peanuts is the traditional and correct ingredient for making the traditional recipe. Kari kari is not complete if not served with a side dish of ginisang bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste). 

Kari kari apparently originates from the Southern part of the Philippines. It was brought to Manila by the Moros (the Southern natives) where it was embraced as a national dish. The flavour is very characteristically Malay, owing to the Southern tip of the Philippines' proximity to the other Southeast Asian countries. Although there has been mention of the name being derived from the word curry, I think the more logical explanation is that the Malay term for dishes with sauce is kari which simply means sauce.

I have interpreted this dish in a way that can be better appreciated by Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike. It is one of those Filipino stews that becomes uniform in colour when cooked. Filipinos say that our food is unappealing because it is usually brown. In this case, it is yellow. I have cooked the vegetables separately and just added them to the dish in the end. This way, the sauce remains pure and rich, undiluted by the juices of the vegetables. The vegetables have retained their original colour too because they were not cooked in the yellow sauce. 

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All rights reserved Kari Kari ©Adora's Box Copyright 2011. Thanks for dropping by. Please let me know what you think of this post.

Growing up near a beach and a fisherman’s market, my mom would always serve Pinangat for breakfast. Some Pinangat versions call for calamansi or Filipino citrus, others call for coconut milk. I grew up eating the latter.

While some folks say they understand why I don’t eat meat, they don’t get why I’m also banning fish. I believe that fishes are not seafood, they’re marine life. Creatures in the ocean have enough predators to keep a healthy ecosystem, let’s not mess it up. But when I do miss my Pinangat, what does a vegan Filipina got to do? Create her own authentic version!

• 2 tbsp. Flax oil
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 long dried wakame pieces
• 4 roma tomatoes, cut in 4 (big chunks)
• 1 vegetable buillon (or if using vegetable broth, use 2 cups vegetable broth & 2 cups water)
• 4 cups water (2 cups if using vegetable broth)
• 1 pack extra firm tofu
• 1 pack Nori seaweed wrap
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 3 tbsp. Calamansi juice (or in my case, I found frozen Calamansi extract at a local Asian grocery store.)
• sea salt
• Pot Steamer

1. Add the water and vegetable buillon/broth to a medium pot steamer.
2. Simmer for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes, wakame, and oil.
3. Wait until it’s boiling, pour the calamansi juice, mix, then add the steamer on top.
4. Steam the vegan fish to infuse the flavors of the broth (see below for the recipe)
5. Steam for about 10 minutes each side.
6. Combine the wrap and broth when ready to serve.

The wrap wouldn’t break apart for awhile but it would disintegrate if left in the broth let’s say for more than four hours. It’s best to combine only when it’s ready to serve.

VEGAN PINANGAT FISH:

1. On a seaweed wrap, put two thin slices of firm tofu.
2. Spread about a tbsp of coconut shred on one of the tofu then sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt.
3. Combine the two tofu like a sandwich
4. Wrap it with the nori seaweed sheet.
5. Add to the medium steamer for flavor infusion.

The firm tofu will have the same texture as the fish flesh while the coconut shreds will serve as the fish “flakes”, the nori seaweed will give the distinct “fish taste”, and the sea salt will give the slight “fish saltiness”.

Although it seemed like an intricate process, the cooking time is fairly fast and the assembly is simple and easy. As for the result, my mom gave her stamp of approval and my dad was quick to add it tastes just like how he remembered it. My sister said I should patent the formula but I rather share it with you guys! Please feel free to try and let me know how it goes!

Recipe by: www.astigvegan.com

• 2 kilos pork ribs
• 2 T sea salt
• 2 T packed brown sugar
• 1 T sweet or hot paprika
• 2 T finely minced garlic
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1-2 t cumin powder
• 1 t chili powder

• 2 T butter
• 1 medium onion, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 ½ t chilli powder
• 2 T fresh calamansi juice
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 4-5 T dark brown sugar (If you have honey–bring sugar down to 3 T, and add 2-3 T of honey)
• 1 c tomato sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: chilli flakes or 2 pcs of chopped siling labuyo (bird’s eye chilli)
• If you chance upon “liquid smoke”in bigger supermarkets, add 1-2T in the mixture.

Like everyone else, Filipinos love stew! There are lots of stew varieties in the Philippines, which are mostly soy sauce or tomato sauce based. My parents prepare the best stew so I grew up loving all kinds of it. But I must admit that tomato-based ones appeal to me more. Among the tomato-based stews, there are three dishes which I was really fond of eating when I was little. Well, actually, until now. :) These are the Afritada, Caldereta (Kaldereta) and Menudo. These three dishes have almost the same ingredients but they differ in the meat used. Originally, Afritada is cooked with chicken while Caldereta is cooked using beef or goat, and Menudo is cooked with pork. In all three dishes, meat is stewed in tomato sauce with vegetables like carrots, potatoes and bell pepper. I tell you, they are all so good. I guess that is why all of them have evolved into many variations which differ from region to region and even from family to family. Some use beef, chicken and pork  interchangeably in these dishes. I remember that when I was little, I would often get confused with what dish I am eating whenever we're attending fiestas, weddings or other parties. When I see a tomato-based pork stew, I would often ask my mom/dad if it's Afritada, Caldereta or Menudo. My parents said it would be simple to distinguish the three dishes from each other if the the person who cooked the dish sliced the meat properly. My dad said that meat in Afritada and Caldereta is supposed to be cubed, about 0.75"x0.75" for Afritada and about 1.5"x1.5" for Caldereta, and for Menudo, meat should be cut into thin slices about 1"x2" in size. My parents said that the way the meat is sliced will help differentiate the three dishes from each other even if the same meat is used, and I totally agree with them. I know that many cooks slice the meat differently, but from where I grew up, that's how it is... cube for afritada and caldereta and thin strips for menudo.

Today, let me share with you my version of Filipino Menudo. By looking at the photo below, I'm sure you'll notice that this looks a little different from the other menudo you've seen on the web...

Just like how my parents taught me, I cut the meat in thin slices about 1"x2" in size. I also cut the vegetables in the same size as the meat. I am not saying that this is the correct way of doing it, but I must say that doing it this way will help differentiate it from pork Afritada just by looking at it. :)

Unlike the more famous Mexican Menudo which is made of tripe in red chili base, the Filipino Menudo is made of pork (marinated in soy sauce and calamansi) and calf liver, cooked in tomato sauce with vegetables like carrots, potatoes, bell pepper, green peas or chickpeas, as well as raisins and Filipino red hotdogs. My daughters don't like liver too much so I omitted the liver strips in this recipe, and just used canned liver pâté for thicker sauce and the needed liver flavor. For the red hotdogs, I used beef franks as substitute, and instead of using kalamansi or lemon for marinade, I used canned pineapple juice. This gives the meat a slightly sweet flavor that my daughters really love.

You should try this recipe and let me know what you think about it...

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For more mouth-watering recipes, please visit me at Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner.  Salamat foodipino.com- Mabuhay!

Kutsinta is a brown (sometimes orange) and sticky cupcake which is made from rice flour, brown sugar, achuete (which is used to add color and flavor), water and a little lye water. It is cooked by steaming and is served with grated coconut. It is a traditional Filipino snack that's very easy to make, and can be found almost anywhere. Kutsinta is my mom's favorite and she would always buy dozens of it everytime she goes to the market. She would also make it at home whenever she finds the time. This recipe I'm sharing with you is my mom's as I remember it. I think the only difference is I used annatto powder instead of achuete juice because I couldn't find achuete seeds here. The result, however, is basically the same except for the tiny particles of annato powder that settled in the bottom of the kutsinta. So if you can find achuete seeds, soak about 1 Tablespoon of it in 2 Tablespoon of water for about 10 minutes. Get ½ Tablespoon of that juice and add it to the kutsinta mixture instead of the annatto powder.

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*Lye water is a strong alkali solution (caustic soda) and an essential ingredient for some rice cake cuisines in the Philippines such as suman sa lihiya and kutsinta. This liquid makes the rice cake firm and elastic in texture. It is a common ingredient in Chinese cooking which is used for their noodles and dumplings. Lye is also used to cure and preserve olives, fish (especially in the nordic regions), and seafood like squid.  It also gives hard pretzels their characteristic brown color and texture and is also used in bagel making. However, it can also be harmful when swallowed drectly. It can also burn or irritate your skin. So be sure to take precaution when using it, and use the exact measurement. When properly cooked and mixed into the batter, the lye is reduced to a harmless state, and it serves its function of giving the rice cake a good texture and added color.

For more mouth-watering recipes, please visit me at Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner.  Salamat foodipino.com- Mabuhay!

Next to shrimps and crabs, squid (or pusit in Filipino) is my favorite seafood. And though I love Adobong pusit and Calamares, this is how I enjoy it the most..

It's summer time here in the US, and whenever we're at home, my daughters and I love spending time in the kitchen... baking cakes and cookies, making shakes, ice cream, ice candy and some other yummy treats. This Pastillas De Leche con Casuy is one of those no-cook desserts that my daughters and I enjoy making together.

Pastillas De Leche are milk candies which are traditionally made from carabao's milk. Carabao which is the Philippine's national animal is also known as water buffalo and is the farm animal of choice for pulling both a plow and the cart used to haul produce to the market. Carabao's milk which is richer, creamier and contains protein, fat, lactose, vitamins and minerals is what gives Pastillas De Leche that melt-in-your-mouth goodness. It is simmered with sugar under low heat until thick, rolled into small cylinders then coated with sugar and then wrapped in cellophane or Japanese paper.

Because carabao's milk is unavailable here in my side of the world, this version that I am sharing with you today makes use of condensed milk and powdered milk instead. It may differ a little in taste, but I assure you that you will love it! There's also no cooking involved in this one so what could be better than that?

Try making these easy peasy treats with your kids... I'm pretty sure you'll all have a good time and will be pleased with how delicious the result will be!

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For more mouth-watering recipes, please visit me at Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner.  Salamat foodipino.com- Mabuhay!

My home made version of the famous Singaporean and Malaysian street food. Curry Laksa is a spicy and filling coconut milk based noodle dish with a curry soup base  mixed with deboned chicken meat and fried tofu. I substitute Laksa leaves to wansoy.

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• 2 cups of rice uncooked, preferably Jasmine. Washed and made to sit in water for about 5 minutes before draining.
• 2 T grated ginger, 3-4 cloves grated garlic, 2 t salt
• 4 T vegetable oil
• 2  1/2 to 3 c water
• 400 gms Chicken fillet, remove skin then thinly slice.Marinade in 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp grated garlic, salt, pepper and splash of sesame oil
• 3-4 chinese sausages, also called chorizong macau

• 1 ½ cups bread crumbs
• 2 T paprika
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup juice of sweet mixed pickles*
• 2 T finely pounded garlic
• 2 T salt
• ½ c mix of green and black olives
• ½ c small shallots, peeled
• ¼  c chopped green onions

• ½ c olive oil  (preferably extra virgin olive oil)
• ½ c juice of sweet mixed pickles
• More salt to taste

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup originated in China, and is made out of beef, beef stock, vegetables and noodles (commonly used is the egg noodles). It is a very common noodle dish in Southeast Asia and East Asia and you will see a lot of variations throughout the region like the Pho Bo in Vietnam and the Beef Ramen in Japan.

History says that the original beef noodle soup was invented by the Hui people which is a Muslim ethnic group in China during the Tang Dynasty in which they use halal beef and no soy sauce.  Since the this dish became popular all over the world, so popular that this noodle soup, even the instant noodles nowadays have this flavour.

I always enjoy this dish and is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, but not all restaurant I guess do it right as some of them is missing that beefy soup flavour or missing the consistency and sweet-salty flavour of that beef brisket sauce.  To get the best flavours in this dish you need to make your own beef stock using beef leg bones boiled slowly for at least 2 hours, using the bought stock in supermarkets wont yield the taste you get from Chinese restaurants.  Also the beef brisket used for this dish (not the soup) is cooked separately together with any ligaments that you can get from the boiled leg bones, also cooked slowly until the texture from that beef ligaments make soup thick in consistency.

So if you have a bit of time and patience preparing for a nice noodle soup then try this one at home and make sure don’t miss a step or make a shortcut to enjoy the real flavours of this dish.

Ingredients

3 large beef leg bones, cut in half 500 g beef brisket, diced 200 g beef ligaments, diced 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup oyster sauce 3 tbsp red sugar 1 thumb sized ginger, sliced 1 bunch onion leaves, chopped toasted garlic 1 packet fresh yellow egg noodles 1 bunch pak choy 3 large red onions, 2 quartered and 1 finely chopped freshly ground black pepper fish sauce sesame oil 3 liters water

Method

1. In a large pot add 3 litres water, leg bones, beef ligaments, 2 pcs quartered onions, black pepper corns, salt (adjust according to you liking).  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours 2. Once cooked using a colander drain the liquid and reserve. 3. Separate the boiled ligaments and carve any ligaments you can get from the bone then set aside. 4. In a pot add beef brisket and cooked ligaments, soy sauce, oyster sauce, red sugar, ginger, 1 liter of beef stock and salt (this should be a bit salty as normal as the flavour would come from this sauce).  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hour or until the beef is very tender and liquid should be reduced by then and the ligaments would make the consistency thick and sticky. 5. In another separate pot, boil the remaining beef stock together with onions, black pepper, 3 tbsp toasted garlic and fish sauce (according to the saltiness you like).  Turn the heat off once the onions are cooked to the point of disintegrating.  Using a strainer drain and reserve the liquid. 6. In a separate pot boil water with dash of salt and blanch the pak choy.  Drain then set aside. 7. In a separate pot boil water and cook yellow noodles for 3 minutes, drain then rinse with cold water. 8. Boil another set of water and soak the cooked noodles then drain. 9. In a bowl, place noodles and pak choy, then add soup, and 2 scoopful of the brisket with the sauce.  Top it with 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp of toasted garlic and 1 tbsp of chopped green onions.  Enjoy while its hot.

Note : this recipe also appears @ Ang Sarap, original post can be seen here Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

Pansit Sotanghon is another variant of the different noodle dishes that the Philippine cuisine can offer, other popular pancit varieties are: Bihon Guisado, Pancit Canton, Pancit Luglug, Pancit Malabon, Pancit Miki Bihon and Pancit Palabok to list some, but there are definitely more varieties specially when your country is separated into 1707 islands. Pancit or noodles in English as I had mentioned before is one of the wonderful contributions of the Chinese to our cuisine. The word was derived from the Hokkien phrase “pian i sit” which means “something cooked fast” so I guess you already have a hint on that name how these dishes are prepared.

Now for this recipe, we will use sotanghon noodles which are also called as cellophane noodles, tanghoon, bean threads, bean thread noodles, crystal noodles, or glass noodles in other parts of Asia. These noodles are characterized by it transparent colour and it is made from the starch of mung beans and sometimes yam or cassava. A very versatile noodle which can be used in stir fries, soups and even stuffing for spring rolls and dumplings.

Ingredients

300g bean thread noodles 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded 1 cup shrimps, shelled and deveined 1 1/2 – 2 cups chicken broth 1/4 cabbage, thinly sliced 1 small carrot, cut into matchstick pieces 1 cup wood ear mushrooms or thinly sliced shiitake, rehydrated 1 red onion, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp annatto powder 2 eggs, beaten Fish sauce pepper lemon oil

Method

1. Soak noodles in water for a maximum of 15 minutes. This makes it soft and easier to handle when cooking. 2. Dilute annatto powder in 1/4 cup chicken broth, set aside. 3. Cook the beaten scrambled eggs in a pan, cool then slice thinly then set aside. 4. Now using a wok, add oil and sauté garlic and onions in medium heat. 5. Add mushrooms then continue to stir fry for a minute. 6. Add cabbage and carrots then stir fry for one more minute. Remove vegetables from the wok then set it aside. 7. Add chicken stock, shrimps and shredded chicken into the wok then bring it to a boil. 8. Once boiling add noodles, diluted annatto powder, continue mixing until liquid dries out then stir fry for 2 minutes. 9. Season with fish sauce and freshly ground black pepper, remove from wok then place it on a plate then top with stir fried vegetables and eggs. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Note : this recipe also appears @ Ang Sarap, original post can be seen here Pancit Sotanghon

Pancit or stir fried noodles is perhaps one of the most popular dish served in special occasions in the Philippines, it’s so popular most of the provinces have developed their own versions which features local ingredients.  Several samples of this Philippine noodle dishes are thePancit Palabok, Pancit Sotanghon and Pancit Cabagan to name some.

If you look closely at each one of them you will notice the use of different cooking techniques, different types of noodles used as well as the use of different vegetable ingredients, but all of them are served on a plate or a bowl and that's what Pancit Habhab is known for, not using any plates or bowl.  Yes you’ve seen it right, no utensils! It is usually consumed in banana leaves by shaping the leaves like a half tube and slide down the pancit on one side then on to your hungry mouth.

The serving vessel is what makes this dish unique and it is attributed to the street vendors of Lucban during the days when styrofoam and plastics are not popular, the disposable banana leaf was the hygienically ingenious way of serving this on the streets.  It also gives that distinct flavour as the hot pancit over the banana leaf would bring out the oil of the banana leaf.  So if you will try this out I suggest serve it on banana leaf to get the real authentic taste.

Ingredients

500g Lukban miki noodles or Shanghai noodles (this will be the best replacement) 300g pork belly, sliced 150g pork liver, sliced 1 carrot, julienned 1 chayote (sayote), julienned 8 cloves garlic, minced 1 onion, chopped 3 tbsp soy sauce 4-6 cups of pork or chicken stock freshly ground black pepper fish sauce calamansi, lime or vinegar oil banana leaf, cleaned and passed through an open flame.

Method

1. In a large wok add around 1 tbsp oil, once hot enough add pork pieces stir fry until brown in colour. 2. Add onion and garlic and stir fry for 2 minutes. 3. Add carrots, chayote and liver and stir fry for 1 more minute, remove vegetable and meat from wok then set aside. 4. Pour 3 cups of stock into the wok together with soy sauce, bring to a boil then add the noodles, cook for 5 minutes adding more stock if necessary. 5. Add the vegetable back then mix to combine. 6. Flavour with fish sauce and season with freshly ground black pepper. 7. Serve in banana leaf with lime wedges on the side.

Note : this recipe also appears @ Ang Sarap, original post can be seen here Pancit Habhab