A Scientist in the Kitchen

Presto Pasta Nights deserve a big birthday bash so I’m sharing with you this week the birthday noodles we served during my dad’s 70th birthday. No birthday celebrations are complete without noodles for long life! Congratulations, Ruth!

I have blogged about this dish before, called Pancit Canton, sir fried noodles with lots of meat and vegetables. What makes this special is the addition of kikiam, a seafood flavored sausage. Usually, we don’t add this to our noodles but my Mom got this idea straight from the noodle factory where she bought the noodles. Canton noodles are dried noodles and a neighboring town host a noodle factory that specializes in this type. In the store, you can also get all sorts of ingredients for making the perfect pancit canton. Dad cooked his birthday noodles, sauted in pork belly and the gizzard, heart and liver of the turkey which we cooked into caldereta. You might wonder if turkey is usually served in Filipino parties. Not really, we happen to raise a lot of turkeys so that’s our source, organically grown.

Birthday Pancit Canton

500 grams Pancit Canton
300 grams pork belly
1 large onion chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
soy sauce
250 grams kikiam, sliced into strips
sliced assortment of vegetables (carrots, chayote, cabbage, bell pepper)*
gizzard, heart and liver of turkey
salt and pepper to taste

Boil pork belly, and the gizzard, heart and liver of turkey in four cups of water. When all are tender and stock hass reduced, take out from the pan and cool. Slice into slivers. In a large pan or wok, heat 2 tbsp oil. Saute garlic, onion, and pork belly for a few minutes then the rest of the meat and kikiam. Add pepper and soy sauce and saute some more. Add a cup of reserved stock and scrape the pan. Add the vegetables and simmer. When vegetables are half done, add the dried noodles. Mix everything to coat the noodles so it will cook. You will need to add more of the stock to properly mix everything. When noodles start to become translucent, taste noodles for salt and pepper and adjust as necessary. Serve with kalamansi.

*In our market, you can buy a pack of assorted vegetables that makes one serving of a certain dish, for example a pack containing vegetables for chop suey, pinakbet or sinigang. We bought two packs of chop suey vegetables to add to this noodle dish.

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I didn’t realize that Pasta Puttanesca is quite simple to make until I read about Abby’s recipe (of Eat the right stuff), my partner for this month’s Taste and Create challenge. This event is hosted by Nicole of For the love of food where participants get a partner and cook each other’s dish. What makes this event really special is that my partners have been from half way around the world. Last December, I was drooling over Val’s potato dishes. Now, it’s pasta time!

I simply love pasta. The use of anchovies, however, is not common in Philippine cooking. We do have anchovies, but it is usually salted and dried, then fried and pair with rice for breakfast. But anchovies in olive oil? Hhmm…

I followed Abby’s recipe for Pasta Puttanesca, except for the fresh chilis. Instead, I used chili flakes. Towards the end of cooking, I add a dollop of tomato paste to round off the color and texture. My mom was curious about this dish, too. Usually, when we have pasta, it usually involves the whole nine yards - meat, tomatoes, cheeses, etc… When she saw me just preparing olives, capers, fresh tomatoes and anchovies, she asked “That’s all?”. We both loved this dish and plan to make it again soon.

I’ve always dreamed of having pasta with very large meatballs ever since I ate meatballs spaghetti in Sbarro. That was way back when I was a teen-age girl. Somehow, I only got to cooking large meatballs spaghetti during the holiday season last year. I forgot about it until I saw this picture so it is only now that I am writing about it.

Large Meatballs and Linguine Pasta

500g ground pork
500g ground beef
freshly ground pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp of dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme)
250 grams unooked linquine pasta
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large white onion, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup broth from cooking the pasta
1 can diced tomatoes
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix first five ingredients together. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Divide meat mixture into four and shape into balls. Brown the meatballs in a pan. Place the meatballs in the side then add the garlic and onion to the pan. Saute till they are cooked but not browned. Mix in the meatballs. Add the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Add the fresh basil, salt and pepper. Simmer everything till sauce is reduced. Add the cooked pasta, mix everything to coat pasta. Serve with cheese.

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Presto Pasta Nights is almost a year old. Thanks to Ruth for organizaing this event Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.

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Almost summer here, perfect for hiking up the mountain. Be great if I could get that Merrell shoes I’ve been eyeing for some time.

Spaghetti pasta is probably the most popular type of pasta in the the Philippines. It is so popular, in fact, that Filipinos have developed their own version of spaghetti sauce to cater to the Filipino palate. This is a sure hit with kids, even babies in strollers!

A warning though, because our spaghetti tastes sweet! Rather I would call it sweet-spice taste using tomato sauce and catsup as the sauce. In the grocery stores, you can find tomato sauce labeled with “Filipino style”.

While I prefer the Italian style of cooking pasta, I still crave for Pinoy spaghetti now and then. For that, I turn to my Dad to cook the spaghetti for us. My Dad cooks really great Tagalog dishes and I’ve learned a lot from him. For the spaghetti, I usually all the ingredients before I let him in the kichen. Two cooks in the kitchen don’t mix well! But then, once he is ready to cook, I usually assist him and wash after him. Otherwise, the kitchen would really be a mess!

The recipe calls for half a kilo of spaghetti, banana catsup, a pouch of tomato sauce and uses corned beef hash instead of fresh ground beef. Freshly crushed black pepper adds to spiciness of the dish for sweet-spicy spaghetti only in the Philippines. Note also the absence of herbs. And since it’s sauted Pinoy-style, soy sauce is added to mixture.

Here’s how he does it:

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