Pancit Canton & Fried Parmesan Dory

Noodles, a definite favorite in our household. Pancit Canton is basically one of the many stir fried noodle dishes that are very popular during gatherings. I’ve cooked this several times and many times I rarely stuck to the same recipe. I think there is just so many ways of cooking this with several ingredients you can add, so I guess I’ll try as much of the other variations as I can. For this variation, I just used ingredients that came to mind when I was in the grocery while thinking of the many types of Pancit I have eaten.

½ kilo chicken thighs (cut into ¼ inch)
200 grams chicken livers (coarsely chopped)
1 large carrot (julienned)
1 medium cabbage (coarsely chopped)
1 small can sliced button mushrooms
15 pieces shrimps (deshelled)
5 garlic cloves (minced)
1 large onion (minced)
Cilantro (chopped)
Oyster Sauce (3/4 cup)
Soy Sauce (1/2 cup)
Chicken broth (4 to 5 cups)
Sesame oil (1-2 tablespoons)
Egg noodles (Pancit)

Sauté the garlic and onions then followed by the chicken, livers, mushrooms and carrots. Add some salt and pepper. Let this cook until the chicken is done, then add the shrimps. Stir fry all of this then add the oyster sauce and soy sauce. After about 5 minutes, add about 200-300 grams of noodles. Add enough stock or water to make sure it does not dry up. The noodles will absorb a lot of the liquids so just add enough to make sure the dish does not turn out dry. Mix this thoroughly to make sure the noodles on top get to absorb the flavor as well. Once cooked, add some sesame oil and chopped cilantro.

The accompanying dish is a deep fried Creamy Dory fillet. Seasoned with salt and pepper and dipped in egg and coated with Japanese bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese. Light and crunchy, it’s a good match with the noodles!

Stir Fried Chicken

I have always been apprehensive about stir frying chicken without any dark sauce or tomato sauce. My few attempts in the past always ended up lacking any flavor or having a flavor i didn't like. With my previous blunders in mind, i used a fusion of ingredients to make sure i do not fall short in the flavor category. The way i usually cook, is i rarely taste what i cook till near the end, way past the point of no return, i just smell it as i cook. I know it's a bad practice which could lead to disaster, but so far any disasters have been minimal and still edible. ;)

With this i used garlic (lots), ginger (about a thumb), lemongrass 4 inner cores, 1 red bell pepper, 1 finger chili, chopped onion leeks (1/2 inch), chopped celery (1/2 inch + leaves), coarsely chopped coriander and basil, 1 tbsp sea salt, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, cracked black pepper and 1 tsp of sugar. I marinated the chicken fillets (1/2 kilo) in salt, pepper, Chinese cooking wine, 2 egg whites and a tablespoon or cornstarch and left it for 1/2 hour before cooking.

I made this by sauteing the garlic and ginger till fragrant, then added the bell peppers and lemongrass followed by the chicken. At this point i added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Let this cook till the chicken is no longer pink. Add salt, pepper, sugar and fish sauce. Moving on, i added the celery (leaves and stalks), coriander and basil. The finger chili was added in the end just to add a little bite. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes till the flavors really blend together. If this gets dry just add a little more water, i don't like my stir fries to be dry. The verdict? It tastes like a Thai, Chinese and Filipino dish. The dish called on the memory of my taste buds. The chicken was tender and carried lots of flavor, a total turn around from my previous attempts. One thing i wanted to do was to add mushrooms, but i was disappointed with quality i had so i skipped it. There will definitely be next time for this.

Calling this Stir Fried Chicken because it was "stir fried" is probably too overused. I am terrible in making up names, so i guess the best i can do is Peter's-Pan Stir Fried Chicken. :)