We were always under the impression that bihon is made from rice sticks. A few days ago, we discovered that it can be produced from cornstarch. There is a company, the Marikina Food Corporation, that has been in food production for more than two decades, which produces bihon from cornstarch, calling it cornstarch sticks. They have two variants, the Luglug or Palabok and the Guisado. They come under the brand Hobe.
Of all the ways of preparing pancit, we have shied away from cooking palabok, probably because we thought it was more complicated to do. This time, we followed the instructions to the letter, and voila! we had a delicious palabok! The cornstarch sticks cooked in minutes, resulting in noodles a la Italian al dente. They were firm and do not break. We will try the Guisado noodles one day soon. Again, we discern an Italian tweak in this one. The recipe calls for olive oil, but then also needs sugar and oyster sauce. Plus, to make it spicy, chili/siling labuyo is added.
The company also sells bihon in ready-to-cook/serve packets. Among their other products are the Chickboy Pop-nicks, which are single serve hotdogs at P5 per. These are distributed by Tridale Corporation and available in supermarkets. Look them up.
We were going to buy some bread from Le Coeur de France at the Commerce Center in Filinvest City one weekend when we got diverted to their other offerings – like a quick but filling lunch. So we took our seats and looked at their offerings. They all looked tempting. Two of us had the croissants filled with seafood, bathed in light dressing. One had a triple ham sandwich and the littlest among us chose the chocolate filled croissants, all fully satisfying for a noonday meal. Afterwards, we got the various breads they offer, from Friday to Sunday, at buy 1-take 1 offer. On Tuesdays, which they call “Thrifty” days, the premium pan de sal goes on sale, a bag at P55 against the usual P85.
We have a reader, Cecilia, who apparently often cooks with Spanish chorizo, specially the popular brand that has become traditional to most homemakers, El Rey. She noted our frustration about not finding this in some supermarket counters, thus she emailed us very useful information. She found a substitute brand, Palacios, made in Spain. This is found in the frozen section of Shopwise. They come either spicy or mild. Thanks, Cecilia, we will check this out.
Happy cooking, dear readers.
E-mail me at lydiadolores34@gmail.com.