Of Woks, Pancit and Stir-Fry
I can't believe how we haven't had any post on any kind of pancit here.
Pancit is how Filipinos have assimilated stir-fry noodles. If you trust Wikipedia, the word is an abbreviated version of a Fukienese or Hokkienese (dominant language in Southern China) phrase that means 'to be cooked conveniently'--or the basic premise of the underrated culinary art called stir-frying. But before we get to the pancit part, let me rant first about stir-frying and woks.
Most tend to think it's easy but it isn't. Stir-frying is fast, and the really great stir-fry dishes are cooked (1) in a wok, (2) under strong flames and (3) in a couple of minutes. Cook them longer and most of the ingredients, especially the veggies, lose their freshness and their crunch. The wok is an absolute must as its shape allows a number of marvelous things to happen such as distributing, concentrating and packing in heat; moving ingredients from the center to the sides and controlling splatter. I secretly raise an eyebrow on a lot of folks who would 'stir-fry' using a frying pan or a griddle. The magic of cooking in a wok is summed up in "wok hei" which in contemporary idiom would be the charred and caramelized flavor of food seared in really high heat. The skill imparted in this manner of cooking entails really delicate precision from timing when to put the ingredients in, to smelling what's being cooked ensuring that balance of flavors and aromas are right in every step of the way, all while you constantly employ your arms to stir.
I miss cooking with woks. It's hard to find a real one where I am. You get things that resemble woks but are flat on the base and don't have those pinched or ribbed edges of traditional woks that hold food up (see photo above). Even these more expensive woks can't really live up to the pressures of high flames as evidenced by the burn marks on the stainless steel one. One of the things I miss cooking with a wok the most is pancit, especially pancit canton. There are a million pancit or stir-fry dishes out there, and there is no one singular recipe to it. For me, you can basically put anything on pancit: from soy sauce to mayonnaise (yes, I saw it in China no less), from chicken to squid, from coriander to star anise. It's not really a question of what ingredients are used, but as to how they are cooked. And stir-frying pancit is the best way to go. My fundamental stir-fry belief consists of the trinity of garlic, onion and ginger.
Add chicken, peas, carrots, corn, basil, oyster sauce, fish sauce and lime juice to egg noodles and you have something like this:
Just remember, if you are using a wok, be quick about it. Keep the flame high, chop or dice your meat and veggies into really small portions, keep stirring and never settle for anything less than a steamy oil-splattering sizzle.
Add chicken, peas, carrots, corn, basil, oyster sauce, fish sauce and lime juice to egg noodles and you have something like this:
Or chicken, carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms, chili flakes, sweet soy sauce, soy sauce, lime and coriander to spaghetti (which is cheaper here than egg or rice noodles), you have (and do excuse the orientalized term) 'Asian' style pasta sauce:
Just remember, if you are using a wok, be quick about it. Keep the flame high, chop or dice your meat and veggies into really small portions, keep stirring and never settle for anything less than a steamy oil-splattering sizzle.
Gout-Friendly Unsalted Summer Spaghetti
My gout has left me imprisoned at home for almost a week, and so I was forced to make do with a lot of saltless, purine-less and basically, tasteless fare. If you read the literature about gout, especially coming from the internet, it can be confusing. Some say you can eat broccoli, some say you can't. Others say to avoid strawberries, others say its a good remedy. Others say apples work wonders, others say it doesn't do anything. Caffeine is bad especially in coffee, but a lot take the side of tea.
So to be on the safe side, I follow a strict regimen of apples, pears, carrot and celery sticks, ginger, garlic, toasted white bread and cranberry juice. I would go for fresh berries (except strawberry) if they're available since a majority of people agree that it does wonders not just for gout, but for the kidneys as well. These seem to be consistently on the list of what can be eaten if you have gout. Everything else I avoid, especially salt.
But I can't munch on carrot sticks for an entire week. So when it wasn't too painful to stand up for extended periods of time, I went to the kitchen and made what I call my Unsalted Summer Spaghetti which, surprisingly, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The secret is to layer in lots of flavors like the zing of ginger, the tang of lime, and the crisp balmy flavor of mint to make it work. The gout-friendliness doesn't only come from the ingredients used, but also it was meant to be cooked for the least amount of time possible standing up!
For about 150 grams of spaghetti, I used:
3/4 teaspoon of shredded ginger
1 clove garlic chopped
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small carrot, shaved and coarsely shredded
1 small lime, before slicing it up, grate the rinds for about 1/2 teaspoon of zest
4 medium mint leaves, julienned
roughly 1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
some shaved parmesan cheese
Cook noodles according to package instructions (except for the part when they tell you to add salt to the water) and set aside.
In a sauce pan over low heat, add olive oil and saute the ginger enough so that it fuses with the oil. Add the lime zest and garlic and before the garlic turns yellow to light brown, place the carrots in and stir for about two minutes or until they cook. Stir in the pepper, thyme, nutmeg and lime juice. Give it a good stir and let sit for a minute before adding the pasta to coat with the mixture.
Top with shaved parmesan cheese for a little indulgence. Some say its bad, I say a little under half of what you normally eat is fine.
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