Recipe: Light and easy Sotanghon Guisado
MANILA, Philippines — What will you serve if you suddenly find yourself expecting a group of friends, about five of them, to come over to the house for an impromptu visit? Why, a noodle dish, of course!
It is probably one of the most practical dishes to prepare and serve a good number of guests because, as Mama Sita’s marketing executive and weekend kitchen warrior Ces Nepomuceno-Gamad puts it, “It is economical because 500 grams of noodles can already make a big kawali of Pansit good for six to eight persons. It is tasty and satisfying because it is a complete dish with carbs, vegetables and proteins, and it is quick to cook because it involves stir-frying.”
So, she whips up this meatless sotanghon dish that is generous in mushrooms. Feel free to substitute the sotanghon with other types of noodles. You can also change the protein and vegetables with the ones that you like.
“Just be sure to prepare all ingredients and place them on a tray in sequence of cooking before you start cooking,” Ces advised.
Sotanghon Guisado with 3 Kinds of Mushroom
Ingredients:
2 tbsps. cooking oil
2 tbsps. Mama Sita’s Pansit Guisado Stir-Fry Base or
1 pc. medium-sized red onion
1/2 head garlic, peeled and crushed
Patis (fish sauce)
1 can straw mushrooms, sliced
5 pcs dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water, then sliced
1 can button mushrooms, sliced
1 pc. small carrot, julienned
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 stalk leeks, sliced, green and white parts separated
1/2 pc. Pechay Baguio, white part sliced into thin strips, green part about 1-inch slices
1 liter water or unsalted broth
500 grams dried sotanghon (vermicelli), soaked in tap water
60 grams Mama Sita’s Oyster Sauce
Procedure:
1. In a big kawali, sauté onions and garlic in oil and season with patis. You may want to try Mama Sita’s Pansit Guisado, which gives a flavorful pansit base even without meat broth.
2. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté. Toss in vegetables one by one starting with carrots, then celery, the white part of the leeks, pechay Baguio — sautéing each for about a minute before adding the next. Season with ground black pepper. Set aside stir-fried vegetables.
3. In the same pan, combine 1 liter of water and Mama Sita’s Oyster Sauce. Taste the liquid at this point and adjust seasoning as desired. When boiling, add in soaked sotanghon noodles and cook on medium heat. Let the noodles absorb the liquid/ broth.
4. Toss stir-fried vegetables.
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