Use Your Noodle, Make Pancit Canton

Are you a noodle lover like me? I love to eat most noodles and one of my favorites of course is the Filipino Pancit. As with most Asian cuisines, there are different types of noodles in Filipino cuisine. One of them is Pancit Canton. It is not original Filipino 'per se' since it came from the Chinese but with the mixture of cultures these days, one does not care as long as it tastes good.

The perfect Pancit Canton for me has noodles that are 'Al- Dente' and has a lot of sahog (ingredients). I remember having pansit that barely has any sahog, it's all noodles and maybe twenty pieces of cabbage. LOL The cook does not eat veggies so she did not care to add more. Anyway, when I cook any kind of Pancit, I add whatever vegetables I have on hand which is usually Spinach, Carrots, Celery and Onions. If I have Bokchoy or Cabbage, I add that too. Shrimps are a must and either Chicken or Pork. Dh prefers Chinese roast Pork so I add that. I like Chinese Sausage but don't use it because dh does not like the taste. Basically, you can add anything you want. :)

For the noodles, I prefer to use fresh ones. The difference is amazing, when you bite on it, it feels 'springy' or 'elastic. But of course, we do not always have fresh noodles on hand. That's where the dried noodles come in handy. Pancit Canton noodles are the yellow kind, you can also use Chinese egg noodles. I find the Pancit Canton from the Philippines a little salty so I prefer to use the Chinese egg noodles
PANCIT CANTON

3 cloves Garlic,minced
1 medium Onion, chopped 1 cup boiled pork, diced
1 cup shrimp, shelled, deveined and halved
1 medium carrot,julienned
1 stalk Celery, julienned
1 Bokchoy or 1 cup spinach, chopped

Sauce:
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese white rice vinegar or distilled vinegar
1 tsp Shao-Hsing wine (Chinese cooking wine)
Pinch of ground white pepper
1 ½ tsp cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth

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.

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