Manang's Pancit Sotanghon

This is one of the many ways I cook sotanghon...my typical ingredients are the usual ingredients for pancit: holy trinity of ginisang bawang, sibuyas, at kamatis (sauteed garlic, onions, and tomatoes), carrots and cabbage, with chicken broth, chicken/pork meat or shrimps and squid, with some soy sauce, patis, oyster sauce, ground pepper, and a drizzle of sesame oil

However, one day I had an intense craving, and all I had at home were the garlic and onions, carrots, and celery, with some leftover chicken and turkey breasts. And in my pantry were (Asian ingredientrs) canned baby corn, straw mushrooms, water chestnut, and quail eggs...and I had in my freezer several pints of chicken broth.

Hmmm...seems like I can make a somewhat more-Chinese-ish version of pancit. So I did, and I managed to satisfy my cravings.

Ingredients:


2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced thinly
3 stalks celery, sliced thinly
1/2 the contents of each canned straw mushrooms, baby corns, quail eggs, and water chestnut (don't forget to drain)
1 cup cubed chicken/turkey breasts
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
cornstarch+water to thicken a bit

You might be wondering why only half of the canned products...well, I had to save some for another batch this time using a cup of squid and 1/2 pound of shrimps (seafood version, which I made the next day).

1 pack of bean vermicelli noodles (about 14 ounces?)
hot water to soak noodles in for 5 minutes
2-3 cups chicken broth to cook the noodles in
2 tbsp oyster sauce
soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp anatto oil (optional- see here for instructions)
drizzle of sesame oil


Instructions:


Soak the noodles in HOT water for 5 minutes. Drain well.

Sautee, in the following order, garlic (until golden brown), onions (until translucent), carrots, celery, baby corn, water chestnut, and straw mushrooms for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from pan.  Put the 2 cups broth into the pan and let boil. Thicken a bit with cornstarch-water mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the veggies back into the pan, add the quail eggs and stir until veggies are coated with the slightly thickened sauce. When it starts to boil/bubble, cook some more, uncovered, for additional 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Set aside. (Note: I gave some to my friend Anna, with the noodles separated. She ate this with plain rice, not realizing that it was supposed to go with the noodles, which she was saving for another meal time, thinking it was complete pancit already.)

For the noodles, bring the broth to a boil, season with the other ingredients except sesame oil, and dump the wet noodles into it. Stir, stir, stir until noodles have absorbed the broth. Bite into a noodle. If it still is too tough, add some more broth (or water).  Do not be too concerned if it is not that salty, as you can easily adjust the salt with soy sauce once you serve.  Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil, and stir.

Pour the prepared sauce/veggie/meat (or seafood) on top of hot noodles.

Enjoy!