Pansit / Pancit Palabok
As promised, here’s my palabok using the Mama Sita’s Palabok Sauce Mix I wrote about.
Basically you follow the instructions on the packet, dissolve the powder in water and cook in a saucepan until thickened. The other things you need are rice noodles (bihon, bee-hoon, the thin ones that come in larger (approx. 8×13) packages. Cook it like you would pasta where you boil water first in a large saucepan then drop the noodles in — they cook in about 3 or 4 minutes so make sure you don’t overcook them.
After that it’s just an assembly job:
Toss the cooked rice noodles (drained well of course) with the sauce. Top with
peeled cooked shrimp — I sometimes cook mine in the sauce for a few minutes
chopped green onions
smoked fish flakes — you’ll find this as “tinapa flakes” in the freezer section of Asian stores — just to be on the safe side, and because I think it helps the flavor I toast this in a dry skillet briefly before using as topping
sliced hard-boiled eggs
fried chopped garlic (fried just until they’re golden)
ground up pork cracklings (chicharon)
Season to taste with fish sauce and kalamansi / calamondin or lime or lemon. Finish off with a dash or two of freshly ground white pepper (or black pepper if you like).
I added chopped up smoked salmon to the sauce. I wish I could say I was just being innovative or sophisticated but the fact of the matter was that I ran out of the smoked fish flakes (the store, too), did not have any Filipino smoked fish in the freezer to shred, and so I reached out for the first smoked thing I found in the refrigerator.
Other things you can add to this would be pre-cooked/fried/grilled squid (marinated or not, or cooked adobo-style in vinegar and garlic), or deep-fried cubed tofu — use your imagination!
Looks so much like Mee Rebus(yellow noodles usually served in shrimp gravy, and egg) or Mee Siam (rice vermicelli served in gravy-more sourish, topped with eggs and shrimps). This dish is refreshing!
Oooh, thanks for the suggestion! Will have to make either (or both) sometime. I’m only familiar with the Malaysian version — the one with sweet potatoes? Is your version the same? I didn’t know it was shrimp gravy, more like beef or chicken. Maybe you have a recipe I could try?
Oh no! Don’t have a start-from-ground-zero recipe at this moment! Yes, both Mee Rebus and Mee Siam can be found in Malaysia/Singapore.
But I’m not sure what is the sweet potato version you are referring to…?
Mee siam pix here
Does it looks similar as your dish ? So alike!
I do have a Mee Rebus pix in my blogbut I’ve used a premix paste for it. Oops!
hi stef!
how are you?
been busy lately, but here i am…nnkaka-miss lang yang palabok esp. when it’s this cold! never had the guts to make this yet…
Yes, Tiger, very similar in looks — is yours a shrimp base too? ‘Cause ours is a definite shrimp sauce — no sweet potatoes, no chicken, etc. Some cooks add eggs to the sauce itself (yum!) as a thickener/enricher and for aesthetics and added texture too. Well, I’ll dig up my old mee rebus recipes and see what you think!
Hi Ces! Kumusta ka rin? Yah, palabok is perfect on these winter days… Pero kinakain ko ‘yan kahit summer hehehe… Super-dali lang with the mix, Ces, kayang-kaya!! As for making it from scratch, I just save the shrimp heads in the freezer until I have enough. You can pound if you like but when I’m lazy I run them through the food processor and mash them as they cook.
I prefer Pancit Palabok eaten with Lechon!
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i want to put up my own palabok and LAPAZ BATCHOY business, but i dont know to start, pls give me your sugestions. Thank you very much!!! GOD BLESS US.
i want to put up my own palabok and LAPAZ BATCHOY business, but i dont know how to start, when to start, pls give me your sugestions. Thank you very much!!! GOD BLESS US.