Gonzalez - The Little Pancit Book

The Little Pancit Book
Gene Gonzalez

Copyright GENE GONZALEZ, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner
and the publisher.

Published and exclusively distributed by
ANVIL PUBLISHING INC.
7th Floor Quad Alpha Centrum Building
125 Pioneer Street
Mandaluyong City 1550 Philippines
Telephones: (632) 477-4752, 477-4755 to 57
Locals 815 and 817
Fax: (632) 747-1622
www.anvilpublishing.com

Book design by ANI V. HABLAN (cover) and JOSHENE BERSALES (interior)
Food styling by NOVIA DAVID ZAPATA
Front cover photo by CROWN DOLOT
Photo of the author on the back cover by WENDY BASILIO
Illustrations by MOISES NICOLAS

ISBN 978-971-27-3193-8 (e-book)

P ancit or Filipino noodles, bridges Philippine Cuisine to its Chinese and Asian counterparts. Centuries of flourishing trade have fostered great exchanges of culture and cuisine. All Pacific-rimmed South East Asian countries belonging to the Malay Peninsula, including the Philippines, have their unique versions of noodles, taking a little from each of the great cuisines that have syncretized and evolved with their own. Philippine pancit presents noodle styles, many of which share an individuality with the recipes of its Malay or Asian neighbors. The dishes in this book represent different regions; all of them treasured recipes from friends and establishments I am presently working with. You will also find here some pancit fare that are favorite fixtures on our family table on Sundays.

N o Filipino can ever grow up without a love for pancit. Inherited from our Chinese ancestors, this dish symbolizes long life, is almost always present on the table on birthdays, eaten during wakes to lengthen lives of loved ones left behind. Pancit is a next staple to rice in the Philippine diet and through the years has risen up from its status as snack to an actual meal item. In my travels all over the Philippines every small town boasts of a certain pancit dish that everybody prepares on ordinary days or special occasions. Though borrowed from our Chinese and Malay ancestors, pancit through the centuries has evolved and has become a truly Filipino dish and staple.

M y profound thanks to Padi Lazcano of Davao for his Mandaya recipe of Hinaub na Odong and to Eugene Raymundo, for his Pancit Cabagan. To my partners and consultants at Culinary Management and Development, Inc., Beth Romualdez with her delightful Bam-i and Jill Sandiques Sotanghon Nukus. To Glenda Afalla, our assistant, who kept tab of my other recipes that were developed through time and necessity.

And of course to the artistry of Edith Morales and her camera, Mildred Cids soulful and passionate concept designs, and again Eugene Raymundos tireless efforts in making the noodle and breads look so tempting.

Ingredients 2 tbsp. cooking oil 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 tbsp. sliced red onion 1/4 cup ground pork 1 tbsp. chopped shrimp 3 cups broth 4 slices patola or young loofa gourd 1 cup miswa noodles 1 egg	Procedure Saut garlic and onion in oil until brown. Stir in ground pork and shrimps until cooked. Pour in broth and let boil. Add in patola and noodles. Simmer until patola is cooked. Season to taste and remove from fire. Whisk egg and serve immediately. Ideally served with puto, puto Bian or pilipit.
The Chef Says: For a thinner soup, just drop a whole shelled egg and let it poach in the boiling broth.

Ingredients
1 tsp. minced garlic 2 tbsp. sliced onions 1 tbsp. cooking oil 3 pork strips 1/4 pc. Chinese sausage, sliced 2 pcs. shrimps, shelled 3 pcs. squid rings 1 pc. chicken heart, boiled until tender then sliced 4 sliced chicken gizzard, boiled until tender then sliced 3 slices pork asado 2 pcs. broccoli florettes 1 tbsp. carrot strips 1 tsp. celery strips 2 pcs. cauliflower florettes 1 tbsp. sliced cabbage 2 pcs. chicharo 1 pc. fresh mushroom, sliced 1 tsp. sliced tenga ng daga, soaked in water then sliced	1 tsp. oyster sauce 2 tbsp. soy paste 2 cups chicken stock 1 tbsp. cornstarch slurry 1 cup lomi noodles, blanched for 30 seconds salt and pepper 1/4 tsp. sesame oil 1 pc. egg 1 tsp. chopped spring onion 2 tbsp. chopped chicharon 1 pc. pork siomai 1 pc. squid ball, fried 2 pcs. quail eggs, cooked and shelled 1 sprig cilantro or wansuey
Procedure
Saut garlic and onions in oil over high heat until fragrant. Add in pork strips and sausage and cook until pork is half done. Toss in shrimps, squid rings, heart, gizzard, and asado. Cook until shrimps turn pink. Blend in all the vegetables, oyster sauce, and soy paste. Cook for a while and pour in stock. Let boil then thicken with slurry. Add in noodles and season with salt and pepper.	7. Turn off fire and blend in sesame oil and egg and mix slightly into serving bowl and top with spring onions, chicharon, siomai, squid ball, and quail eggs with egg cracklets or pilipit. Top with a sprig of cilantro or wansuey.
The Chef Says: This recipe is inspired by a favorite lomi place in Sto. Cristo St., Divisoria called Ilang-ilang Restaurant, which foodies attest as having one of the best lomi versions in town. The addition of chicharon sways more to Filipino in style. In Southern Luzon especially in the Batangas area, freshly cooked Lomi is ladled over a shallow plate to cool its gravy but eaten fast before it gets cold.

Ingredients 1/4 cup chicken skin, cut into strips 1 1/2 tsp. achuete oil 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 tbsp. sliced onion 1/3 cup cooked chicken, shredded 3 pcs. shrimps, shelled 1 tbsp. tenga ng daga 1 tbsp. carrot strips 1 tsp. kinchay, chopped 1 1/2 cups sotanghon noodles, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes 1 tsp. patis pinch cracked black pepper	Procedure In a pan, sweat chicken skin until fat from the skin comes out. Discard the skin. Add in achuete oil and saut garlic and onions until fragrant. Blend in chicken and shrimps and cook until pink. Add in vegetables. Toss in noodles and season to taste with patis and pepper. Serve immediately with camachili or mamon tostado.
The Chef Says: To produce a rich-flavored sotanghon dish, let the chicken stock simmer a little longer, or use free-range chicken.

crab fat noodles