Pancit Molo

If it's pancit, where are the noodles? A lot of people ask and I have to admit that I was one of them. According to this article, pancit Molo is a specialty of a place called Molo in the province of Iloilo which is in the south of the Philippines in the Visayas region. My father's side is Ilonggo which means they also specialize in Pancit Molo, but where is the connection to this article? Nothing much, but it's my way of saying I have sort of a right to this recipe (LOL).

My recipe for Pancit Molo is very simple and straight forward. I'm trying to recreate the taste of my friend's version which uses ground chicken instead of pork in the dumpling...okay so I thought we were talking about pancit, where does the dumpling come in? Well this kind of pancit uses dumplings instead of noodles. A mixture of ground meat with vegetables and spices in made into a dumpling encased in wonton wrappers. Some versions include shredded wanton wrappers which look a lot like noodles when cooked.

PANCIT MOLO

Dumplings

Ground Chicken 1/4 kilo

Garlic, minced 3 cloves

Spring Onions, sliced thinly 4 stalks

Ginger, grated 1/2 inch knob

Soy Sauce 2 tablespoons

Black pepper, cracked 1/2 teaspoon

Wonton Wrappers 1 pack

Egg, beaten 1 piece

In a clean bowl, mix ground chicken, minced garlic, spring onions, grated ginger, soy sauce and black pepper. Make sure that everything is well combined. Place bowl over an ice bath (another bigger bowl with ice cubes) to keep it cold while working. This also prevents bacteria from multiplying.

Lay a piece of wonton wrapper on a clean plate, spoon a teaspoon-full of ground chicken mixture, brush a little beaten egg on the sides and fold in half to form a triangle. Do not overstuff the dumpling or you might have a hard time sealing it. Take the two sides and fold, letting them meet in the middle and brush with egg to seal. Set aside on a clean plate, repeat procedure until all the filling is used up. You can use the dumplings right away or they can be stored in an airtight plastic container in the freezer for about a week.

Coconut oil 1 tablespoon

Onion, sliced thinly 1 piece

Lemongrass, white part,sliced thinly 4 stalks

Chicken Stock or vegetable stock 500 ml

Fish sauce (patis) to taste

Preheat a pot with coconut oil, saute onions and lemongrass until fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock/vegetable stock. Let it come to a simmer, drop the dumplings and let it boil. Dumplings are done when they wrinkle and become translucent. Season with patis and more cracked black pepper. Garnish with sliced spring onions and toasted garlic. Serve hot.

And there you have it, a simplified version of pancit molo which takes so little time to make (except for the dumplings--which can be prepared ahead of time) but tastes so good. Actually I've been wondering why I didn't make this sooner!