What's for Dinner?

It's been exactly 7 months since I last tasted good Filipino food.  I have to comfort myself with my own version or else I'll feel miserable. Haha! So tonight, we're having Palabok. According to Wikipedia, Palabok is made of rice noodle smothered with a thick, golden shrimp sauce or other flavored sauce, and topped with:

• Shrimp, (the size and shell-on or shell-off depending on preference)
• Crushed or ground pork rind
• Hard-boiled egg (sliced into disks or quartered lengthwise or chopped)
• Tinapa (smoked fish) flakes
• Freshly minced green onion

As for me who can only depend on instant ingredients because I'm based overseas, I'd have to settle with what I can find in a Filipino store nearby:

Stars of the show - Rice noodles, Chicharron ni Mang Juan and Mama Sita's Palabok Sauce

Pancit Palabok Recipe:

• 1 pouch (57g) Mama Sita's Oriental Gravy (Palabok) Mix
• 8 oz (227g) bihon (rice noodles) cooked as directed
• 2 1/2 cups (625ml) water or unsalted soup stock
• 2 tbsp (30ml) cooking oil
• 1 tbsp (8g) minced garlic

Garnish:

• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1/2 cup (100g) shrimps, boiled and peeled
• 1 tbsp (15g) fried minced garlic
• 1/2 cup (30g) crushed cracklings
• 1/2 cup (100g) squid (cooked and cut into rings)

Directions:

1. Dissolve Mama Sita's Palabok Mix into favored liquid (water or unsalted soup stock).
2. In a wok, saute garlic and tinapa flakes in cooking oil. Stir in Mama Sita's Palabok mixture.
3. Bring to a boil, stirring until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
4. Place bihon in a serving platter and pour sauce over it.  Garnish with eggs, spring onions and shrimps, etc. Serve with calamansi and patis.

* Note: I didn't follow everything on the recipe.

- I didn't use tinapa flakes. I used chicken breast flakes instead.
- Since I don't have squid as of the moment, I didn't include that in my Palabok, too.
- For the chicharon or cracklings, I used Chicharron ni Mang Juan.  It's made of peas, not pork. :P

My pretty palabok

Have fun eating!