Family recipes 5: Francia's 'pancit' and 'kare-kare'

My sister in law Francia, who's married to my younger brother Louis-Xavier, comes originally from the Philippines, from a small village called Bulong Gubat Candabba, about one and a half hour's drive west of Manila. But she's now a proud 'Filiroo', having lived in Sydney, Australia with my brother for many years. Whenever we go to their place, we are treated to her delicious repertoire of Filipino recipes, adapted for Australian conditions. Here's a couple she's passed on to try out, which are both easy and very tasty.

Pancit (illustrated in photos)

(literally, the name of this dish means, 'noodle'--the name is based on the Chinese-style parcooked noodle popular in the Philippines and known as pancit Canton which forms the base of the dish--you can see it above. But any kind of similar parcooked Chinese noodle can be used)

Serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients: One onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, chopped fine; 1/2 kilo chicken breast fillet, cut into thin strip pieces; one packet pancit Canton or similar parcooked golden-coloured Chinese noodle; some chopped vegetables: whatever you want, but mostly cabbage, carrot, broccoli, etc are used. Also some strips red capsicum(pepper) and handful snow peas, if desired for decoration at end; some chicken stock; olive oil for cooking(Fran notes this isn't traditional Filipino but since marrying a frangaroo, she's really taken to olive oil and thinks it adds extra taste to the dish!); salt and pepper; soya sauce.

Method: In a wok, cook onion and garlic in the olive oil till soft, add chicken strips, then chopped vegetables, stir well to cook, add seasoning, a little soya sauce. Now add the noodles(do not pre-cook them or wash them)to the mixture, add chicken stock and let it simmer, covered, till the noodles are soft and everything is cooked through(vegs shouldn't be soft though but still a little crunchy). Add a little soya sauce if you think it needs it(but not too much.)If wanted, you can serve this with some very quickly stir-fried red capsicum and snow peas on top, to add colour.

Kare-kare

Ingredients: Some oxtail or osso bucco; oil; water; salt and pepper; vegetables--cabbage carrot etc, or whatever else you want; 'kare-kare' spice mix(Fran advises paprika can be a good substitute, mixed with peanut butter dissolved with beef stock from the oxtail.)

Method: Fry the oxtail quickly till brown, then add salt, pepper and water. Simmer till tender. When cooked, drain the stock(keep to use later.). Fry the vegs, then add to the beef, add some stock, and then the 'kare-kare' mix. Serve with rice and shrimp paste.