habhab fanatic

I was back in Lucban , Quezon last August 19 to celebrate Lil Bro's b-day in my aunt's house. Coincidentally, it is also the town's fiesta. Most of the gigs will happen at night thus we opted to sleepover at her house and then leave the next day. For a long time, I havent tasted the delicacies that only Lucbanins can offer - kalderetang carabeef, longganisang lucban, tamales, pancit habhab, hardinera, and all sorts of food that sizzles one's palate. Since I am a pasta fanatic, I crave for the pancit habhab. This pasta always saves my day when I only have PhP 10.00 left in my wallet. That's enough for a scoop of the habhab and a cup of cold sago on the side. I remember savoring this same pasta everytime I had to take an exam for that hideous El Fili subject.

To give you an idea of how it's cooked, I got this from one of the online cookbooks. Hopefully with this, you'll crave for the habhab as much as I did when I first tasted it in 1993.

Ingredients :

half of a 500 g. pack of Lucban pancit miki (available in supermarkets), 300 g. of pork liempo (belly), cut into 3/4 x 3/4 x 2″ strips or 150 g. of pork liempo plus 150 g. of pork liver, 100 g. of sitsaro (snow peas), 1-2 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 1 whole garlic, 2-3 shallots, a handful of onion leaves, 7-8 c. of broth (chicken, pork or beef), patis, ground pepper, 4 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil,

Cooking procedure : If using pork liver, slice thinly before cutting into strips.

Finely mince the garlic. Thinly slice the shallots. Cut the carrots into matchsticks. Cut the celery on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Trim the sitsaro.

Heat half of the cooking oil in a large shallow pan (a wok is ideal). Add the pork and cook over hight heat, stirring, until the edges start to brown. Add half of the garlic and sliced shallots. Pour in half of the broth and season lightly with patis. Simmer until the pork is tender.

When the pork is almost done, heat the remaining cooking oil in a saute pan. Saute the remaining garlic and shallots. Add the carrots and stir fry for a few seconds. Add the celery and sitsaro and cook until tender crisp. If using pork liver, add the liver strips before the vegetables.

When the pork is done, pour in the remaining broth. Adjust the seasoning, adding more patis if necessary. Season with pepper. Add the uncooked noodles, pressing them lightly into the broth. Cover and simmer until the noodles are soft and the broth has been absorbed. Add the stir fried vegetables. Toss to distribute the pork and vegetables evenly.

Serve hot with kalamansi juice and soy sauce on the side.