Pancit Palabok (Native Rice Noodles)

The Philippines has long been in contact with China. Even before it was discovered by the western people, it has been practicing flourishing trade with many countries in Asia. Explorers sent from Spain were baffled that the natives are enjoying very intricate and varied gold jewelleries. The people were cultured and have elaborate traditions. Only that they have tried to erase it from the face of the world. Anyway no one can blame them for what they have done since maybe they thought that it might be the right thing to do at the time. Noodles, an important contribution to the world by the Chinese come in various forms and recipes. Palabok is a dish enjoyed by the natives and exists to this day. Even today it is one of the popular unique Filipino dishes that is enjoyed in special occasions. Several versions of the recipe are cooked by many individuals and fast food offerings in their menu.

Ingredients:

500 grams Palabok (native rice noodles)

1 ½ liter Water (for preparing palabok noodles)

2 tbsp. Safflower oil (for preparing palabok noodles)

½ kg Pork

1 cup Prawns (without shells and deveined)

½ cup Water (for extracting flavour from the head of the prawns)

2 tbsp. Garlic (minced, for sautéing)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced, for sautéing)

2 tbsp. Safflower oil (for sautéing)

¼ tsp. Black pepper (powder)

½ tsp. Iodized salt

4 tbsp. Patis (native fish sauce)

4 cloves Garlic (peeled, crushed, for preparing the meat)

1 pc. Onion (medium, peeled, quartered, for preparing the meat)

1/3 cup Green onion (sliced into about 1 cm length)

Chicharon (crispy pork rind), crushed for garnishing.

Tinapa (smoked fish), flakes, toasted to golden brown colour on hot frying pan for providing additional flavour.

1 cup Water (for preparing meat)

½ tsp. Black pepper powder for final assembly of the recipe.

2 cups. Water

5 pcs. Eggs (hard boiled, cut into thin slices for garnishing)

1/3 cup Achoete (annatto seeds, for coloring the sauce)

1 tbsp. Safflower oil (for extracting the colour from the Achoete)

1/3 cup Water (for extracting colour from the achoete)

Cooking Instructions:

Preparation of palabok noodles –

In a large pan, place the water and oil and heat to boil. Once it is boiling briskly, add the noodles and stir occasionally. The liquid will momentarily stop boiling because of the cooling effect due to the addition of the noodles but when it starts to boil, lower heat to maintain gentle simmer and stir occasionally until noodles are cooked to desired consistency. Strain the noodles and wash with tap water to stop the cooking. Set aside on the strainer.

Tenderizing the meat –

In a pressure cooker, place the pork, garlic, ginger, black pepper, salt, and water. Pressure cook for about 10-15 minutes. After this time, turn off the heat and allow cooling normally. Do not vent pressure to hasten cooling; the normal cooling time is used as additional cooking for tenderizing the meat. Fish out the meat and cut into thin 1 inch slices and set aside. If fat floats on the broth from tenderizing the meat is found, it may be skimmed off to lower the fat content of the dish. Keep the broth for use in final assembly.

Preparing the prawns –

Shell the prawns and devein the meat. Set aside and separate the heads of prawns from the rest. Remove the sharp covering of the head of the prawns and retain the inside portion. Pound on a mortar or mince to puree consistency by using a knife on the chopping board the separated portions of the prawn’s head. Place the pureed material on a bowl and add the ½ cup of water. Mix and strain through a strainer and squeeze excess liquid from the remaining solid on the strainer to extract as much of the flavour liquid as possible. Discard the solid and retain the liquid for final assembly of the dish.

Extracting colour from the achoete –

Heat oil in a frying pan and place the achoete seeds. Stir well until you notice that the oil has extracted the most colour. Add the water and continue to heat until the liquid boils. Strain and collect the liquid for use.

Assembling the recipe –

Heat oil in a large wok or saucepan and toss in the shrimp and cook with stirring until the prawns turn bright orange. Fish and set aside the prawn from the hot oil. In the hot oil from cooking the shrimps, sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the flavour liquid extracted from the prawn’s head and continue to heat strongly until it starts to boil and change colour. Add the broth from tenderizing the meat and the patis and continue heating until it starts to boil strongly. Add the achoete colour extract. Toss in the tenderized meat and the prawn and lower the flame to maintain a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the green onion and stir well. Reduce flame to maintain gentle simmer and toss in and mix the noodles. When all of the noodles is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are well distributed, it may now be served.

Serving procedure –

Plate the noodles and sprinkle with the crushed chicharon and tinapa flakes (since the main noodle dish low salt that it might taste bland, the tinapa flakes are salty and hence, must be added to taste). Garnish with slices of hard boiled eggs. Enjoy.