Chicken Pastel

It's another ordinary day! But who says you can't prepare a special meal when there's no special occasion? Here's another hearty dish that is served during fiestas and special occasions in the Philippines. It’s easy to prepare and you you can cook this any day you want.

Chicken Pastel or Pastel De Pollo in Spanish, is the Filipino version of Chicken Pot Pie. The main difference is that chicken pastel doesn’t have a bottom crust, only top crust.

My mother used to cook chicken pastel often but not with the pie crust on top because we didn’t have an oven then. It is a very creamy dish that my brother and I love when we were growing up.

I’m going to share with you the original version of this dish wherein the chicken stew is topped with a pie crust and then baked. It is more elegant to serve chicken pastel during special occasions with the crust on top. But I know that we, Filipinos love to eat everything with rice. So let me tell you that you can omit the crust part and just serve the chicken stew with rice.

If you are looking for a scrumptious chicken dish, this is a must-try!

Prep Time: 30 mins          Cook Time: ~1hour           Servings: 4-6                                

Ingredients:

• 2 big boneless chicken breast, cubed
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 pc lemon
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 pcs Chinese chorizo, bias sliced
• 2 pcs beef franks, bias sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium sized onion, minced,
• ½ cup chicken broth
• 1 big potato, cubed
• 1 regular sized carrot, cubed
• ½ red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 1 cup button mushrooms, cut in half
• 6 to 10 pcs green olives
• ¼ cup grated  cheddar cheese
• ½ cup evaporated milk
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt & pepper to taste

For the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/8 cup water

Pancit Canton

Pancit Canton is another dish of Chinese origin that has very much become a part of Filipino cuisine. Just like pancit palabok (the very first recipe I shared with you here), pancit canton is one of the many pancit variations in the Philippines. In pancit palabok, we use bihon or rice noodles, while in pancit canton, we use canton or egg noodles, which is the dried type that is flavored with crab or shrimp.

When cooking pancit canton, there are several ways of preparing the noodles. The most common method is to blanch the dried noodles in boiling water for a few seconds then draining them before stirring into the sauce. Some blanch the noodles, and after draining, lightly fry them in oil. Some like it crispy so they plunge the dry noodles in plenty of hot smoking oil until puffed, after which the meat, vegetables and sauce are poured over the fried noodles arranged on a serving plate.

Pancit canton is my daughters’ all-time favorite noodle dish so I cook it very often. Based from experience, blanching the noodles makes them soggy so I don’t do it. I prefer that they cook in broth so that they can absorb the flavor of the meat and/or seafood that I'm cooking it with.

Pancit canton is a very flexible noodle dish. You can cook this with whatever vegetables, meat or seafood you want. Want cauliflower? Bell pepper? Broccoli? Shrimp? Squid? Chicken? Pork? Go for it! No matter what you decide to add on it, it will surely be yummy!

Prep Time: 20 mins          Cook Time: ~30 mins           Servings: 6                                 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pancit canton (egg noodles)
• ½ cup pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ cup squid, cleaned and sliced into rings
• ¾ cup boiled chicken breast, cut into thin strips
• ¾ cup boiled pork, cut into strips
• 1 medium size carrot, julienned
• 1 bundle small pechay, washed & trimmed
• ½ cup snow peas. washed & trimmed
• ½ cup green beans, thinly sliced diagonally
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken & pork broth (I use the broth from which I boiled the chicken & pork.)
• 1 cup shrimp extract (I made this from shrimp heads mashed using mortar and pestle then mixed with a cup of chicken broth and then strained.)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 4 Tbsp. fried garlic (optional - for topping)
• 2 pcs. Lemon or 4-6 pcs calamansi (optional)
• 1 cup egg omelet strips (cooked from 2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt. This is optional. We just love topping our pancit canton with this.) 

Chicken Lollipops

I remember how much I loved Goldilocks' Chicken Lollipops. I used to order it with their Filipino Style Spaghetti. 

In other countries, Chicken Lollipop is considered as an appetizer dish, but in the Philippines, it is considered as a main dish and is usually served with rice or noodles. You may think it’s difficult to prepare, but once you’ve tried it, you’ll realize it’s not. I suggest that you just use wing drumettes instead of whole chicken wings to eliminate the hassle of chopping it and removing the bone from the middle part of the chicken wings.

My daughters fell in love with this from the very first time I cooked it. They love eating it with rice and sometimes, with just celery and carrot sticks, and ranch dip. If you have kids who are picky eaters, I recommend you try this recipe.

Prep Time: 40 mins          Cook Time: ~15 mins           Yield 12 Chicken Lollipops        

Ingredients:

• 12 pcs. chicken wing drumettes
• ¼  cup fresh lemon extract
• 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce 
• ½  cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour 
• salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying