A Typical Dish From My Country, The Philippines: Pansit Guisado (Stir-Fried Noodles)

Hello to my good friends in Steem Geography, greetings from the Philippines!!!

I am overwhelmed having came across this new contest initiated by @belenguerra to describe a typical dish from my country. And what comes first to my mind is Pansit Guisado or stir-fried noodles.

Pansit has always been a favorite dish in the Philippines. Since my country is composed of 7,107 islands, we have different versions of this pansit guisado. Some would prefer pork and pork liver, chicken meat and chicken liver, shrimps and squids as protein component of this noodle dish. It is already a complete meal because not only it is overloaded with variety of vegetables, it is also cooked with meat and seafoods and most importantly, the pansit or the noodle itself which is the main ingredient of this dish.

Pansit is basically the ultimate "long-life" food. We fondly call it the "long-life" food because the noodles for us, signify a wish for longer life. It is always the number 1 food in the list, especially on birthdays. It is also served in many Filipino celebrations like fiestas, reunions, Christmas and weddings. A typical Filipino gathering is never complete without pansit. It can be served as is, or it can be eaten with rice (as viand, haha Filipinos love carbs) or bread (as palaman or filling).

We always have pansit in almost all our celebrations. One experience that I wouldn't forget was during my graduation when Mama cooked her ultimate pansit. It's super loaded with tons of chorizo bilbao, shrimps and fish balls, that is why her version of pansit is always my favorite, simply the best pansit ever!!! And so during school gatherings, if I'm asked to cook at our school kitchen for our visitors, I would gladly prepare my version of pansit just like Mama's.

Let's get started!!!

These are the ingredients I used in cooking my Pansit Guisado:

4 Tbsps cooking oil
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 kilo pork, sliced in cubes
1/4 kilo pork liver strips
1 piece medium carrots, julienne
1 piece medium bell pepper, julienne
5 ladles (about 15 Tbsps) soy sauce
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
1 kilo pansit/fresh noodles
1/2 piece cabbage, shredded
6 stalks of spring onions, chopped

HOW TO COOK

*Perform mise en place. That is, to prepare all the ingredients listed above ready for cooking. Doing mise en place makes your cooking way easier and faster because all ingredients are washed, sliced and prepared accordingly.

*In a large pan, add the oil and sauté the garlic, onion and the white portion of your spring onions.

*Add the pork into the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the meat turns white. Stir constantly.

*Stir in the pork liver strips for about 2 minutes.

*Add in the carrots and bell pepper.

*Gradually add 5 ladles of soy sauce.

*Sauté the meat and vegetables for 2 minutes. This will help the meat and vegetables incorporate flavors with the soy sauce.

*Add water to the pan.

*Season with some salt and pepper. And let it simmer for at least 5 minutes.

*Toss in the noodles and let all ingredients incorporate flavors. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Remember to cook your noodles al dente.

*Lastly, add your vegetable greens: the cabbage and spring onions.

And voila!!! Here's our Pansit Guisado ready to serve!!! Tara kain tayo. Let's eat everyone!

I hope you enjoyed our Philippine dish today and you might try cooking this at home with your family and friends. You might as well prepare this on someone's birthday as a wish for a longer life!!!

Food is love on a plate. And when you do cook, always cook from the heart and think of someone whom you're cooking the dish for. Always. That is the only secret ingredient.

I would like to say thank you, most especially to @belenguerra @worldgeography @steemcurator01 @steemcurator02 @steemcurator06 for always supporting and encouraging people like me to write and be our better versions everyday. Thank you so much 🧡🧡🧡

Your Filipina friend,
Rose