Passport & Plate - Pancit Batil Patung
Philippines | Monday, March 10, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Pancit & soup
1.. cooking oil
2.. 1 medium onion, ½ sliced, ½ diced
3. 1 garlic, diced
4. 2 carrots, julienned
5. ½ head of small cabbage, shredded
6. 1 handful of bean sprouts
7.. ½ kilo (or more, if you want a meatier dish) ground beef
8. ½ kilo fresh miki (Shanghai-style noodles
9. 1.5 litres of beef stock
10. 6 large eggs
11. Soy sauce
12. Pepper
13. Chicharon (pork crackling
Side sauce:
1. 1 small or medium onion, diced
2. 6 pieces calamansi (Philippine lemon) or half a lemon
3. Spicy vinegar (or regular vinegar, if you don't like it spicy)
4. Soy sauce
How to prepare this recipe
Pancit & soup
1. In a wok, heat about ½ tablespoon cooking oil.
2. Brown beef in the oil and season with soy sauce and pepper, to taste
3. Add half of diced garlic and half diced medium onions. Sauté until fully cooked.
4. Remove beef from wok and set aside
5. Heat ½ tablespoon cooking oil in the same wok
6. Add remaining sliced onions and remaining garlic.
7. Add vegetables and stir-fry. Season with soy sauce and pepper, to taste.
8. Remove vegetables from wok and set aside (but leave just a bit, and adding a little of the meat to add flavour to the noodles).
9. In the same wok, simmer 2 cups of beef broth.
10. Divide fresh miki noodles with hands, just to make sure they don't stick together. Cook in simmering broth. Add broth if noodles are too dry (or water, depending on the saltiness of the noodles, as sometimes the noodles are already seasoned) If still lacking in taste, season with soy sauce and pepper to taste
11. On a deep plate, arrange in this order from bottom to top (makes 4 plates):
a. noodles (with a little of the soup it was cooked in),
b. vegetables,
c. beef.
Set aside.
13. Return to (now almost empty wok). Put in remaining soup. Poach four eggs, one by one, in the soup.
14. Place one poached egg on top of each noodle plate.
15. Add crumbled chicharon pieces on top. Set aside.
16. Return to wok and beat two eggs in the soup that's simmering in very low heat, to make an egg drop soup.
17. Pour soup in a small bowl and serve next to the pancit.
Side sauce:
1. Place chopped onions in a small bowl.
2. Squeeze lemons in the bowl (making sure to remove seeds).
3. Add 1/8 cup vinegar and ¼ cup soy sauce.
4. Serve alongside the pancit.
(You can use more lemons, vinegar or soy sauce, depending on how sour or salty you want it. I prefer it more sour and spicy so I use more spicy vinegar)
The story behind this recipe
Pancit batil patung is a signature dish of my hometown, Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley. Pancit means noodles: the main ingredient of the dish. Batil means beat: which is how the soup is made. Patung means top: how the cooked ingredients are assembled - one on top of the other.
The original recipe uses carabao beef, which is not widely eaten and readily available in Manila, I use cow beef instead. Some opt for pork or chicken. Some also choose to use more or less kinds of vegetables or none at all. Some opt for a different meat garnishing, like hotdog, chorizo, chopped liver, or pig's brain, instead of chicharon. The poached egg, however, is the crowning glory of the pancit batil patung. You can be versatile with the ingredients, BUT you can never do away with the egg.
It was not until recently that this dish was made readily available in a panciteria (an eatery that serves pancit) in Manila, where I have been living since I was 13. I would often have a craving for this dish, especially when I got homesick.
My passion for food and adventure taught me to experiment with cooking. With the help of my taste and visual memory, (panciterias in my hometown have open kitchens, where I can watch my pancit being cooked), I was able to recreate the recipe on my own at home, so that I don't have to wait until the next holiday.
I chose a recipe that will transport other travellers to my hometown and introduce them to the local specialty food. I chose a recipe that transports me home, the place that I will always go back to.
Just like any person who yearns to see the world and learn from experience, I have travelled to other places within and outside the Philippines, each trip highlighted by trying out the local cuisine, including the street food. However, just like any other person who values her roots, I still yearn for home. Pancit batil patung is my comfort food, something that takes me home, now I would like to share it to the world.
