a TwEAT up

We call her Ninang. That means "godmother" in Tagalog. She's the godmother of our group, which we call Berks (a term short for "barkada," the Tagalog word for "group of friends"). Our Berks is spread across the globe, a friendship forged online, so we've been keeping in touch mainly through Twitter. But for those of us who live in So Cal (Caroline and Remil), we've started tweat-ups -- meet ups with our twitter buddies -- regularly. So while I was in the Bay Area last week, I knew it was the right moment to have a tweat-up with Ninang. 

"Let's meet at the Ferry Building, Malou! You'll love it there," she suggested.  Although it wasn't my first time to visit San Francisco, a city that I find so endearing that I could see myself living there, it was my first time to go to the Ferry Building. Ninang's choice was perfect for food bloggers, since the Ferry Building is like a mecca with all of its shops and markets.  

I was standing by the pier when Annapet came from behind me and she surprised me with an excited "boo!".

Reeling in from the surprise, I asked her how she knew what I looked like, since this was our first time to meet in person. She laughed and reminded me that I had tweeted a picture of me waiting by the Transbay bus that brought me to San Francisco. Since my daughter lived across the bay, she was worried about me and the bus trip over to the city. So she took my picture with my outfit that I tweeted "just in case". I looked (and felt!) like a little school girl headed for a field trip as I stepped unto the school bus, while my daughter and her boyfriend looked from the sidewalk, waving goodbye to this bus. Talk about role reversals; my daughter was being so protective.

Annapet's greeting had set the mood. This was not your usual meet-up, as first time friends should meet. I felt like we were long-time friends coming in for a reunion instead of twitter friends meeting up in person for the first time. Stories flowed so naturally and we laughed so much. She also handed me this box...

When someone hands you a box wrapped so nicely like this, what would you expect?

Chocolate truffles, maybe? Or perhaps, since she is known as the Queen of Macaroons, a box of those cute, delicious little French pastries? But boy, was I wrong! Instead, she gave me this:

Look closely. That's home-cured pancetta! And it's mangalitsa pancetta at that. How could I have missed it? When you visit my friend's blog, The Daily Palette, you will have all the clues that hint at what she loves. She loves gardening and cooking; she loves mangalitsa pork and who is into charcutepalooza.  It may sound like I'm talking Greek, but drop by The Daily Palette and you will understand what I mean.

This is the Ferry Market Building -- the site of our rendezvous.

It was a gastronomical delight, with diverse choices.

There were artisans and crafters selling their work of art... There were mushrooms and fresh cheeses.

Farm to table products...

Gourmet food galore...

When you step outside, the city bustles with buildings and cabs. The landscape is so different from the inside, which looked more like a Farmer's Market.

And it was so magical to see the Golden Bridge right outside.  I was enthralled. It fed my soul like no other. It made me remember how I felt the first time I set foot in this city more than 20 years ago. My heart felt like singing Frank Sinatra's rendition of "I Left my Heart in San Francisco" as if it was the first time I visited this wonderful city. At that moment, I realized that I wanted to live in San Francisco again. But for now, I am comforted by the thought that I have a new friend in Annapet who lives there.


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Since Annapet is an active member of Kulinarya Cooking Club  and Chartucepalooza, I made this post to hit two birds with one stone. This month's theme for Kulinarya is Flores de Mayo (flowers of May), and to incorporate her chartucepalooza project of pancetta, I made a plate of Palabok Pancetta.

Palabok is a noodle dish with shrimp sauce whch has layers of garnishings.  Traditionally, one may use gound pork or beef, but I replaced that with pancetta instead. I hope you enjoy this dish that's inspired by a new friendship and a new taste!

Palabok Pancetta


Ingredients
Slices of Pancetta
Prawns or Shrimps
shrimp broth (boil shrimp heads, crush the head or use an Osterizer, then drain)
1 tsp annatto powder
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 medium onions chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch disperesed in water
1 package of rice stick noodles


For toppings
Tofu
green onions
toasted garlic
boiled eggs


Procedure:


For the sauce:
Fry pancetta slices.  Drain and set aside.  Reserve the rendered fat from the pancetta.
On the same pan, sear prawns on both sides. Set aside,
Pour rendered fat on the pan.  Saute garlic and onions with oyster sauce.  Add shrimp broth.  Let it simmer.  Season with  fish sauce.  Add cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.  Crack a fresh egg and give it a quick stir.


For the noodles.  
Boil water in a stockpot,  Add noodles and let it stand for 5 minutes.  Drain.  Add 1 tbsp of rendered fat and toasted garlic.  Toss  and set aside.


To assemble:
Put noodles on a plate.  Ladle up a scoop of the shrimp sauce.  Garnish with shrimp, boiled eggs, green onions, pancetta and tofu. 

The saltiness of the pancetta together with the shrimp sauce,  the prawns and eggs will create a wonderful chorus in your mouth...hmmmm...  YUM!


P.S.
Thank you Sefie of Sefie Eats and Connie of Home Cooking Rocks  for the Flores de Mayo theme for this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club theme.

Click here to check out the rest of the KCC members