This Super Sosyal Pancit Palabok is a Filipino rice noodle dish made with a prawn sauce and topped with smoked trout, boiled eggs, crushed pork rinds and chives. It's the ultimate party dish.
It was my birthday 2 days ago and my special request to my mom was Pancit Palabok. I actually shared our family recipe on The FeedFeed a few months ago. However due to time constraints and not being able to go to the Filipino market to get all the things, we had to do some slight modifications.
Super Sosyal Pancit Palabok
What came about was a little fancier version. Sosyal in Tagalog means fancy in English. The final dish turned out better than expected so I just had to share.
What is Pancit Palabok and what is in it?
Pancit Palabok is a rice noodle dish that is topped with a prawn sauce that is flavored and colored with atchuete (annato). A prawn stock is made by boiling prawn heads and shells in water until all the flavor is extracted making sure to press down on the heads to get all the juices out. Then the shells are strained out and the sauce is put back on the stove to reduce and thickened with arrowroot powder.
Toppings
What I love about this pancit palabok in particular is that you can make it your own through the toppings. This is where we had to do some replacements as we could not get to the Filipino market. Here I'll list both traditional toppings and what we ended up using instead.
- Tinapa (dried smoked fish) <> Used Smoked Trout Instead
- Chicharon (deep fried pork rinds) <> Baked Pork Cracklings
- Boiled Eggs
- Green Onions <> Used Chives Instead
- Kalamansi Juice <> Lemon Juice
My personal preference is to go way heavy on the sauce, smoked fish and kalamansi. It's really a pick your own adventure kind of dish. Totally perfect for parties as it makes it more interactive and you get to see everyone personal preference.
Ingredients
For the Prawn Stock
- 2 Pounds Prawns, large, pealed and reserve the shells and head
- 4 Cups Water
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns
For the Palabok Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ½ White Onion Diced
- ½ Pound Ground Pork
- 3 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 1 Cup Firm Tofu, Drained, Dried and Cubed
- 4 Cups Prawn Stock
- 2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Patis (Fish Sauce)
- 1 Tablespoon Achuete powder
Noodles and Toppings
- 2 Packets Rice Noodles
- 6 Eggs Boiled and Cut into Slices
- ½ Cup Crushed Pork Rinds
- ½ Cup Smoked Trout
- ½ Cup Diced Chives
- 1 Whole Lemon Cut into Wedges
- 2 Pounds Poached Prawns
Instructions
Cook The Prawn Stock
- Add the prawn heads and peels to a medium-sized pot and cover with 4 cups water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn it down to a slow simmer. Press down on the prawn heads and peels as it simmers away to extract as much flavor as you can. Leave it to simmer for about 30 minutes. For extra umami blend the prawn stock with the shells in a blender. Then strain the shells and place the stock in a bowl.
Make The Palabok Sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a stock pot over medium-high and add in the pork mince. Cook until browned. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until transparent. Add in the garlic and cook until golden brown. Add in the firm tofu and saute for a further 5 minutes.
- Pour in the prawn stock reserving ¼ cup. Bring to a slow boil. Meanwhile add in the achuete and arrowroot into the ¼ cup of reserved prawn stock and mix well making sure there are no lumps. Add into the sauce and keep stirring until thick.
- Season with the fish sauce and leave to simmer for a further 30 minutes to develop more flavor. Just before serving taste and season more with fish sauce and salt and pepper
Noodles
- Prepare the noodles according to package directions.
Serve the Palabok
- Ladle the sauce in a bowl and lay out the noodles around the bowl. Arrange the prawns, eggs, crushed pork rinds, smoked trout, lemon wedges or and chives around the sauce and noodles so each guest can make their own mix.
Shar from California says
How much onion and tofu for this recipe? It’s in the instructions, but not on the ingredient list. Can you kindly reply and also update the recipe of ingredients. Thank you.
Rezel Kealoha says
Oh gosh! Thanks for catching that. I have updated the ingredient list.
SHAR from California says
Hi I you haven indicate 2 packets rice noodles? Do you mean two packages of 16 ounces ea of bihon (super q golden BIHON, excellent brand, BIHON, etc) for a total of 32 ounces or approximately 1 kg? Your reply would be appreciated as I am hoping to make for an upcoming party. Thank you.
Rezel Kealoha says
You would need 2 8oz package of Bihon for a total of 16oz.
Shar from California says
When you say prepare the noodles as directed, I find Bihon noodles have methods for sauté preparation or soup preparation, which method do I follow for palabok? Thanks again
Rezel Kealoha says
For palabok you would need to boil the noodles in 4 cups of water for 3 minutes and drain and place it on your serving dish. Don't boil it until the sauce and toppings are ready.
Shar from California says
Help ! What are “2 packets rice noodle” mean? Is that 16 oz for each packet for a total of 32 oz or approximately 1 kilo for the sauce recipe above?. I have 2-16 oz golden bihon on hand. Do I need to adjust the sauce recipe?