[Recipe] Seafood and meat Pansit Canton

Pansit Canton has become such an integral part in Filipino festive food culture and you will often see this dish being served during big gatherings and special occasions. The Chinese roots can't be denied as even the name itself means "Canton style noodles" but I suspect that both the ingredients and the style of cooking may have been so assimilated with the local Filipino food culture that its present incarnation would be unrecognizable from the original. 

In our family, birthdays would always have one noodle dish (for long life) and either Filipino sweet style spaghetti, sotanghon guisado, or pansit canton will satisfy that requirement.

Ingredients:
8 ounce packet of dried pancit canton noodles 
1 Liter Chicken/Vegetable Stock or equivalent bouillon dissolved in a liter of water
1/4 Kilo Shrimps
1 packet squid balls (around 200 grams), cut into quarters
1/4 Kilo pork, menudo cut
1 cup of straw mushrooms, cut in halves
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into inch long sticks or thin disks
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup of Baguio beans/french beans, cut into diagonal strips
1/2 cup tenga ng daga (cloud ear fungus), roughly chopped
1/2 cup chicharo (Chinese snow peas)
3 Tablespoons corn starch dissolved in about 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup toyo (salty soy sauce)
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon Knorr liquid seasoning
Calamansi halves for garnishing

  
Directions:

In a large wok, saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of oil under medium heat until some caramelization is apparent in the onions. Stir fry the pork pieces adding the ground black pepper and some salt (just a pinch should be ok just to season the meat while cooking). When the pork browns slightly (in about 10 minutes or so), add the shrimps, squid balls, straw mushroom halves, the tenga ng daga fungus, the chicharo, french beans, and carrot sticks, stir-frying for another 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Knorr liquid seasoning, and the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the dried noodles in the wok and bring the temperature down to a simmer stirring occasionally. Let it simmer with the wok covered for a few minutes until most of the liquid gets absorbed by the noodles and test the noodles for doneness (follow the noodles' packaging instructions). Some liquid will remain. Place the dissolved cornstarch into the wok and mix thoroughly to thicken the sauce. Serve with calamansi for garnish.