Pansit Bato is Bicol’s original Filipino noodle recipe, a saucy noodle named after a small town called “Bato” in Camarines Sur, in Bicol region. Its noodle texture is similar to Canton, but Bato is firmer. Bicolanos have a specific recipe for it. It comes with a lot of sauce, and bagoong(shrimp paste) is applied as its main condiment. That’s perhaps the unique part of the tasty Pansit Bato Recipe.
To be specific to our hometown, we love to eat it with Sinapot(Maruya) and a drink of coca cola, my favorite combo in particular. I recall in high school, my friends and I loved to run down to a local flea market after school. There was a specific “turo-turo” restaurant where we order the threesome meal for a snack. That just filled our day!
Janis has her own Pansit Bato recipe that she adapted from her Dad. I think it’s the best Pansit Bato recipe you can try. I’s made with a lot of sauce for this particular Filipino noodle recipe, and obviously bagoong (shrimp paste) is added, creating a unique flavor to it. Some consumers mix it with “Dinuguan”(meat blood soup), a very popular Filipino delicacy, which did not bother me at the time. 🙂 Here’s Janis’s tasty Pansit Bato dish for you.
Ingredients: 3-4 servings
1 pack(500g) of Pansit Bato noodle
1 lb. pork belly, sliced in cubes
1 cup sliced cabbage
1 cup of sliced carrots
1/2 medium sliced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. fresh bagoong alamang(shrimp paste)
1/2 tsp soy sauce(optional)
1 tsp crushed black peppers
water
Cooking Procedure:
- First things first, using a strainer, wash off excess salt from bagoong through running water. Set aside.
- Soak Pansit Bato on a bowl full of warm water. Leave it for 10-15 minutes, then drain water off the noodle. Set aside.
- Clean and chop pork belly into small cubes. Clean, skin off carrots and slice them in thin slices. Wash and slice cabbage, slice onions and chop garlic.
- On a wok or deep pan, boil pork belly cubes in 1/2 cup of water, until meat is slightly browned, water is drained. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Using the same wok or pan, sauté garlic and onion. Add the bagoong and stir to combine for 1 minute or so. Add carrots and stir for 2-3 minutes. Follow it up with the sliced cabbage. Stir to combine. Add a small amount of soy sauce, if desired. Keep stirring until vegetables are half-cooked. Set Aside.
- On the same wok, apply 3-4 cups or water or more, or sufficient enough to allow lavish Pansit Bato sauce for the dish. Bato noodle firm, and usually sucks in water before its fork tender. Let it boil, then apply the noodles. Add a small amount of soy sauce. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until noodles are soft. Add more water if needed.
- Add all the sautéed vegetable ingredients. Mix thoroughly to combine. Apply more water if needed, to reach your desire for more sauce. Season with crushed black pepper. Mix and let it simmer for another minute.
- Remove tasty Pansit Bato recipe from the heat. Serve this saucy noodle hot. Sarap!
Tip: I’d like to add my favorite combo snack meal again; Sinapot(Maruya) and a drink of soda! I miss this yummy! Maruya, if you could recall by the way is that sweet rice flour coated, fried Saba bananas.
