Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I couldn't resist commenting on this string. I am a first generation Filipino-American and have been assisting or making pancit since I was very young. It has always been an intriguing dish to make and eat, because it's all about interpretation and expression. Like someone had already mentioned, it varies like potato salad recipes do (which by the way, my fiance and I have killer recipes of that too!).

I really break it down to 3 sections: 1) type and style of noodle (rice, flour, bean thread, etc...flat, short, clear and slippery, etc.) - keep in mind that rice noodles (aka bihon) have no fat, but the flour ones (aka canton) are quite high in fat but IMO have much more flavor; 2) choice of meat/vegetables (chicken, pork, shrimp, chinese sausage, etc...cabbage, carrots, ginger, garlic, scallions, snow peas, etc.); and 3) base flavoring (soy, oyster sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onion, etc.).

Before I do anything, I ALWAYS make my own stock and found that this step alone is one of the most critical determining factors in the end product (again, this is my opinion but was what my mom and many Titas would do as well). I found that a well-done chicken stock is my gold standard. Basically, put a 2lb. package of chicken on the bone (I like thighs) in a large pot. Fill with water until it just covers the chicken. Add one roughly chopped onion, a couple roughly chopped carrots, a couple roughly chopped celery, a bay leaf, tablespoon of kosher salt, tablespoon of ground pepper, a couple crushed cloves of garlic, and one chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2hrs. After simmering, strain the liquid into a separate container and set aside all the meat (should easily tear off bone to the touch).

Prepare the following stir fry ingredients (obviously can be done while twiddling your thumbs in prior 2hr. segment): couple scallions, one chopped onion, couple cloves of garlic, couple carrots, and a half head of cabbage (I found a great substitute for the carrots and cabbage is a bag of coleslaw). Without burning your hand, shred the chicken from the stock off the bone; use however much you wish for the dish.

I use the same pot for everything so now heat to med-high and use a couple tablespoons of standard vegetable oil. I like to first sweat all the veggies minus the garlic first...after about 2-3 minutes, I'll throw in the garlic (to prevent burning)...after another 2-3 minutes, add the shredded meat....after a couple more minutes, add the love juices; the measurements will really be to your taste however a good baseline is equal parts of soy sauce and oyster sauce (couple tablespoons), and about a tablespoon of sesame oil...you can also funk it up with other flavors but I will keep my preferential flavors secret to me. After this all marries together, it should be close to the consistency of what a chinese mu-shu dish is like (the kind of stir fry that would go well inside scallion pancakes, etc.). Take all this off heat and place in another dish.

Now add back into the same pot, the stock you cooked and turn to med-high heat...you're gonna have to eyeball this however for each standard package of noodles, you'll need about 3-4 cups of liquid (you can always remove liquid). Add your choice of noodles I suggest a mixture of flour and small rice noodles ("singapore" or angel hair style). I found this gives a good balance of flavor, texture, and is considerate of the waistline (what Filipino is considerate of the waistline?!). Basically cook the noodles down for about 6-7 minutes until pretty much 90% all the liquid is absorbed into the noodles, and the noodles are cooked.

Last step! Add back in the stir fry mixture and voilla! It wouldn't be a traditional dish without hard-boiled eggs on top so cut up some slices as well as some scallion to garnish and you're good to go.

Here's the best part about all this, as I mentioned before, there are 3 segments and they can all be tweaked to come up with soooo many recipes and the most important thing is that this is my interpretation based on my upbringing and preferences, etc...take this guideline and as Randy Jackson says, "make it your own, dogg!"

I disagree about a lot of the candy items mentioned here.
I, for one, LOVE the fun-sized (or mini, if you prefer) candies. It's a tiny bit of something insanely tasty, enough to give pleasure without causing tummy pains. When I was a young'un and I went trick-or-treating, one house gave out mini Clark bars. Yum-o-delish! I polished those off first.
I think the chewy peanut butter kisses taste absolutely divine.
Candy corn, I think is plenty of tasty, as are the candy pumpkins made of candy-corn base. Think little dollops of hardened cake-frosting.
As for apples and raisins, those I didn't mind in the least.

However, some items, I do agree about.
Toothbrushes -- a boring reminder
Religious pamphlets -- disappointing and WEIRD to boot.
Packages of "normal" food -- oh, for crying in Manhattan, what kid wants to receive a can of baked beans or a box of oat bran in his little plastic jack-o-lantern.
One time I received cough drops -- and not the Ludens or Pine Bros or Smith Bros or F&Fs, which are tasty and could pass as hard candy (as can the Ricolas). These were nasty little green pellets that were -- and tasted like -- MEDICATION. Like I said, for crying in Manhattan! For crying in Manhattan, Chicago, and San Francisco

Oh well. At least I didn't get a ROCK

If I didn't live in an apartment building with no kids in it I'd be giving out and full sized candy bar AND a red bull to every kid. HAHAHA!!! HALLOWEEN IS FOR KIDS! SUCK IT PARENTS!

I live in Portland and travel solely by bicycle.

I could have a really good time following up on all your names, like: @toferburl, is your last name Kimball? Does the name "Pavlov" ring a bell?

This is really fun. The non-food names are every bit as interesting as the food-related ones. I'm very, very glad I don't have to pick a winner.

So, on hindsight, I should've gone with the nickname my little cousins--twerpy boys--gave me when I was about 14. Every time we'd come to visit, they'd run around hollering, "Hide! The FBI is here!" Flat Bette Irene. Yup, that's me. Depending on their mood and creativity and their ages, I've been Fried, Furry, Fruity, Flatulent, Full, Faux (padded), Fiendish, Frisky, Fixed, Freaky, Funky, Finky, Fat, Foolish, Floppy, Frickin'--every F-word they could think of went in front of my name. I didn't think F-words were funny, but my cousins thought they were hilarious.

Tonight, I'm Famished Bette Irene, and that's not at all funny.

In our house we love butter and when I cook I get butter on my fingers simple no-brainer. butter, porkfat/lard, olive oil they all rule any natural fat is in reality good for you in moderation and tastes great. what would pie crust be without butter or lard? Eggs if not fried in bacon fat then butter? A sauce stew or soup without that last pat of butter, splash of olive oil or even a dab of chickenfat, porkfat, lard or some full natural fat to finish it off? Go figure , it's a miracle ingredient ! It would be like a world without salt a dash is all it takes! I sure hope Emeril Lagassi only uses that much salt for showmanship or his food would taste only of salt. It is rediculous the amount he uses it's so disgusting, he ruins what was quality ingredients before he got to it there is no other justification for that much. Aren't there people starving in America much less the world that would give their lives to provide for their families what he renders inedible?
I could also have chosen butterbrain as I slip off topic so easily.

My business is Paumanok Preserves jams, jellies, condiments, et.al. My products are "well preserved, " and people tell me my age (70) doesn't show. I started using my "handle" a few years ago when I decided to put a vanity plate on my truck: WLPRESVD. The NYS limit of 8 letters/numbers is also my birth number, so it all works. I plan to retire at the end of this season, but won't have to change my signature.

Oops, I just realized that I referred to SE as Chow... and just to show my lack of creativity ...my name is the same on both.

I had a terrible time trying to think of who my nom de Chow should be so I went with the obvious. I'm from WI and I'm a woman.

Well, I'm a chef who wants a TV show. My handle comes from my website (WannabeTVchef.com) which contains clips of my food writing, TV appearances and other culinary personality stuff.

In January of 1996, I put on an event at the DC Convention Center called Capital Cooks with Books. It was modeled on Philly's Cook and the Book. (I had Gourmet, USAirways and the Beard Foundation as sponsors. I also had 36" of snow on the ground during the event. Which was why there was no second year.) As I was working on the project, I became involved with the old Food and Drink Network on AOL (Which I eventually hosted for 7 years.) My screen name Capcooks was just blatant self promotion. And even though I left the AOL fold years ago, I still keep the name so old interwebs friends can still find me,

Well I imagine a lot of people already know of the well-known show from which I stole my name, but in case you don't, Liz Lemon is the title character from 30 Rock. How could I resist? An alias that combined one of my favorite characters of all time and also was an explicit reference to a perfect little fruit? It was destiny. I was surprised no one else had taken it yet when I registered.

Mine is the same name I use everywhere on the Internet, and not food related at all. Gaellon was a character in two stories I wrote about 15 years ago; I prepended the Dr when I got my MD in 1997.