Pansit Palabok

It's outrageous how much those palabok-Malabon stores charge for a bilao of this party standard, when it actually costs so very little to make for yourself (which thereby qualifies this dish as one to feed to the multitudes). The only thing is, the prep is very mabusisi (i.e., meticulous), but otherwise, it's well worth the effort. One thing I pride myself on: my palabok is prepared completely from scratch, which should always be the case if you're after quality. Once upon a time, I tried to shortcut things by buying pre-prepared tinapa flakes (way too salty), pre-prepared market breadcrumbs (too moldy), and pre-prepared crushed pork rinds a.k.a. chicharon (too old). Never again!!! I'm going to make my palabok from scratch from now on, thank you very much...




Ingredients:
1 kg palabok noodles
6-8 pcs. tinapang galunggong, flaked
1/4 c. cooking oil
3 heads garlic, chopped
2 packs annatto (atsuete) powder
1 medium onion, chopped
250 g lean pork, sliced into 1/2 menudo-sized pieces
250 g shrimp, cooked and peeled, or 100 g dried hibe
patis
sugar to taste (I don't use vetsin)
ground black pepper
5-6 pcs. soybean cake (tokwa), cubed
2 pcs. Knorr shrimp bouillon cubes
5 cups water
1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. cornstarch dispresed in 1/8 c. water
1 bunch green onion, chopped
4 eggs, hardboiled, peeled, and sliced for garnish


Here's how the gig runs:

Soak palabok noodles in water overnight. Go figure, the noodles are tougher than the usual spaghetti, so be well prepared. Cook in boiling water until just past al dente. Drain and set aside.

Flake the tinapa with a fork, or your fingers. Toast in a frying pan until dry and crispy. Set aside.

Heat the oil in the frying pan. Add the chopped garlic, toast until golden brown. Drain the garlic in a sieve and blot with paper towels. Set aside.

Add annatto powder to the hot oil, fry tokwa cubes until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

In the same oil, saute onions and add pork pieces, stirring until pork is no longer pink. Add patis, sugar, and black pepper to taste; remove pork when tender.

Still in the same pan, add another pack of annatto powder until dissolved in the oil. Add the shrimp cubes and water. When the mixture starts to boil, add the breadcrumbs: break down any lumps by using a wire whisk or whisking with a fork. Season to taste; add more patis if necessary. When mixture is smooth, add cornstarch solution until the sauce thickens. Remove from flame.

Mix sauce with cooked noodles and assemble tinapa, chicharon, tokwa, pork, shrimp, garlic, green onions, and egg on top. Serve with patis and calamansi.