Pancit Canton

Ingredients

• 400 g pancit canton egg noodles, dry, uncooked
• Proteins
• 250 g chicken breast or thigh, sliced thin
• 200 g pork belly, sliced thin
• 200 g medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Vegetables
• 150 g cabbage, shredded
• 100 g carrots, julienned
• 100 g snow peas, trimmed
• Aromatics
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Sauce
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml oyster sauce
• 500 ml chicken stock, hot; more if required when noodles are added
• To serve
• 4 calamansi, halved, served as wedges alongside
• 60 g pork chicharon, crumbled
• 30 ml neutral oil

Method

1. 1
   Set a wok over maximum heat. Add the oil and, when it shimmers, fry the pork belly slices in a single layer until coloured on both sides. Add the chicken and stir-fry until just opaque throughout. Add the shrimp and cook only until they turn pink. Remove all three proteins to a plate and reserve. The proteins are done when each has reached its own threshold of doneness — the shrimp should be barely set.
2. 2
   In the same wok over maximum heat, fry the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Do not allow the garlic to colour beyond pale gold.
3. 3
   Add the carrots, cabbage, and snow peas. Stir-fry at high heat until the vegetables have softened slightly but retain their bite — the cabbage should be wilted at the edges and the carrots yielding to a sharp nail pressed against the thickest piece.
4. 4
   Pour in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and hot chicken stock. Bring the liquid to a vigorous boil. Taste: the base should be deeply savoury with sufficient salt to season the noodles as they absorb it. This is where the dish lives or dies — the liquid volume must be generous; dry noodles added to a near-dry pan will clump and steam rather than fry. If the wok looks shallow, add more hot stock before proceeding.
5. 5
   Add the dry noodles in three or four successive handfuls, not all at once. After each addition, toss vigorously and allow the noodles to absorb the liquid before introducing the next handful. The wok temperature must be maintained throughout; adding all the noodles simultaneously drops the heat and the noodles steam. Continue until all the noodles have absorbed the sauce and are fully tender with no chalky centre — press a strand between finger and thumb to confirm.
6. 6
   Return all reserved proteins to the wok. Toss to distribute evenly and heat through — the dish is ready when it is steaming uniformly and no cold pockets remain at the centre of the wok.
7. 7
   Transfer to a large serving platter. Scatter the crumbled pork chicharon across the surface. Arrange the calamansi halves alongside. Serve immediately, hot.