1. Place the water in a pot and bring to boil over high heat. Add the noodles, stir and cook for 2-4 mins. for fresh noodles and 4-7mins. for dried noodles . depending on the size. Turn off heat and run cold water into the pot and drain.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add the garlic and stir. When the garlic is golden brown, add the onions and cook for a minute. Add the pork and shrimp. Saute for a minute or until the shrimp turns pink. Add the carrots, celery and Bokchoy stems. When these have softened slightly, add the Spinach and Bokchoy leaves. Make a well in the middle,stir the sauce mixture and pour into the pan. Stir well and cook until the sauce thickens.

4. Add the cooked noodles into the pan and mix until the noodles are coated with the sauce and vegetables are evenly distributed.

5. Serve in a platter with sliced lemons and soy sauce on the side.

Pancit Molo is an adaptation of the Chinese Won-Ton soup. This Philippine dish has it's origin from a city in Iloilo called Molo. Do you know that in Iloilo, the first letter of your surname is the same as the city/town you're from? Interesting factoid. :) My maternal grandfather's real surname (he was adopted later and used his adopted family's surname) started with the letter D and he was from a town called 'Dingle' (deeng-leh).

Anyway, back to Pancit Molo and soups. My family and I love eating different variations of soup during winter, my favorite soup to make is some kind of noodle soup. Everytime I have pork filling left-overs from making Lumpia Shanghai, I make it into siomai or wonton and use this to make Pancit Molo.

To make the siomai, I use ground pork, minced carrots, flat-leaf parsley, onions with salt and pepper plus one egg to act as a binder. I wrap it using small squares of pastry made exclusively for wontons. Use at the most, one teaspoon of filling per wrapper. Close the edges using beaten egg to make a complete seal. I put a bit of flour on the bottom of the plate where you'll set the siomai so it does not stick to the bottom and to each other.

For the soup, I saute the garlic and onions. I add several pieces of chicken parts with bones and let it sweat. Afterwards, I add several cups of water and bring it to boil. I skim the impurities out and let it simmer until the chicken is tender. I take out the chicken and cut the meat into strips. Meanwhile, I add the carrot strips and other vegetables I have in the fridge like spinach and celery. Add the siomai to the broth, let simmer for 20 minutes. It is important to just let it simmer because if you have the broth boiling, the siomai might open up if it has not been sealed well.

Season to taste with pepper and either salt or fish sauce. Add the cooked chicken and minced green onions before serving. If you prefer, you can add noodles to Pancit Molo (just like I did). Add the noodles to the broth at the last 5minutes of cooking (depending on how long the noodles will cook).

As you may have noticed by now, almost all the dishes I cook make use of only one (or two at the most) pot or pan. Is it obvious that I hate to wash dishes? LOL Thank goodness for the dishwasher, one of the best (second only to the washing machine) inventions for the household. Anyway, if you're into washing pots and pans, you can make the chicken broth ahead of time (but why bother when you can do it in the same pot - that's always my opinion).

Pancit Molo Recipe

Filling:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 carrot, chopped
1 tbsp minced parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Broth:
1 tbsp. oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 lb chicken bones
salt and pepper to taste
green onions, chopped (for garnish)


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I have yet to meet a noodle that I did not like. :) I like to cook all kinds of Pancit, different variations of Italian pasta and this Thai dish called Pad Thai.

As with most other cuisine, the noodles came with the Chinese in Thailand. So basically, this is not the so-called 'authentic' Thai food. But hey,who cares? LOL This is one dish where you can taste almost all combination of flavors: sweet - from the sugar, salty - from the fish sauce, sour- from the Tamarind pulp and spicy -from the chili powder.

There are different variations on this recipe, some call for Tomato ketchup, uhuh, you read that right. Well, it's not as bad as you might think but for Pad Thai 'purists', this is a big no-no. The following recipe is what I use when I make Pad Thai. I omit the dried shrimps since I don't like the taste and the sweetened salted radish.

Pad Thai
Recipe by Kasma Loha-unchit

2lb. dried thin gkuay dtiow or rice noodles (also known as Ban Pho to the Vietnamese)
3 Tbs. fish sauce, to taste
3 or more Tbs. tamarind juice the thickness of fruit concentrate, to taste
2 Tbs. palm or coconut sugar, to taste
4 Tbs. peanut oil
1/3 lb. fresh shrimp, shelled, deveined and butterflied
3/4 cup firm pressed tofu, cut into thin strips about an inch long, half an inch wide and a quarter inch thick
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, thinly sliced (or substitute with half a medium onion)
1/4 cup small dried shrimp
1/4 cup chopped sweetened salted radish
2-3 tsp. ground dried red chillies, to desired hotness
3 eggs
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
1 cup garlic chives, cut into 1 1/2-inch-long segments (optional)

Pad Thai Garnish
2/3 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
1 lime, cut into small wedges
A few short cilantro sprigs
4 green onions - trim off root tip and half of green leaves and place in a glass with white end in cold water to crisp (optional)

Soak the dried rice noodles in cool or lukewarm tap water for 40 minutes to one hour, or until the noodles are limp but still firm to the touch.

While the noodles are soaking, mix the fish sauce with the tamarind juice and palm sugar; stir well to melt the sugar. Taste and adjust flavors to the desired combination of salty, sour and sweet. Prepare the remaining ingredients as instructed.
When the noodles have softened, drain and set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat until it is smoking hot. (Note: If your wok is small, do the stir-frying in two batches. The recipe may also be halved to serve two.)
Add 2 teaspoons of oil and quickly stir-fry the shrimp until they turn pink and are almost cooked through.
Salt lightly with a sprinkling of fish sauce and remove them from the wok.
Swirl in the remaining oil, save for 1 teaspoon, to coat the wok surface and wait 20 to 30 seconds for it to heat.
Add the tofu, frying 1 to 2 minutes, or until the pieces turn golden.
Add garlic and stir-fry with the tofu for 15 to 20 seconds.
Follow with the sliced shallots and cook another 15 seconds.
Then add the dried shrimp, sweetened salted radish and ground dried chillies.
Stir and heat through a few seconds.
Add the noodles and toss well with the ingredients in the wok.
Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes and when most of the noodles has changed texture and softened, push the mass up along one side of the wok.
Add the teaspoon of oil to the cleared area, crack the eggs onto it and scramble lightly.
When the eggs have set, cut into small chunks with the spatula and toss them in with the noodles.
Add the sweet-and-sour seasoning mixture.
Stir well to evenly coat noodles.
If the noodles are still too firm to your liking, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of water over them to help cook.
Taste and adjust flavors as needed to your liking by adding more fish sauce or tamarind juice; if the noodles are not sweet enough, sprinkle in a small amount of granulated sugar.
When the noodles are cooked to your liking, toss in 2 of the 3 cups of bean sprouts and the garlic chives (if using).
Sprinkle with half the chopped peanuts and return the shrimp to the wok.
Stir and when the vegetables are partially wilted, transfer to a serving platter, or dish onto individual serving-size plates, and garnish with the remaining bean sprouts and chopped peanuts, the lime wedges, cilantro and green onions.

Serves 4 as a one-dish lunch. Squeeze lime juice over each portion before eating.

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