Pancit Buko is a new discovery for me although I grew up in coconut country. Buko is the flesh of young coconut. The shredded young coconut meat as a substitute for noodles is a revelation. It’s soft chewy and nutty …you could say a Merci Buko moment, ahem pardon my French.
If I was in the Philippines, I would use freshly picked buko from the farm. Next best thing is the frozen young coconut that is available in Asian stores across Australia and that makes cooking coconut noodles so easy. Cook and season as you would a usual noodle dish by adding any veggies you have season with soy and lots of garlic and just stir through the shredded coconut meat and voila you’ve got yourself an exotic noodle dish. So simple and incredibly healthy and also gluten free.
Buko Pancit, noodles but now as you know it…
4
servings15
minutes30
minutesPancit Buko with coconut noodles
Ingredients
1 packet shredded young coconut, thawed
3 cups of mixed shredded vegetables such as celery, julienned carrots, Chinese cabbage , bok choy, capsicums, mushroom
1 onion sliced
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup of finely sliced cooked meat, chicken pork or combination
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Sliced green onions or finely chopped coriander for garnish
Lemon wedges to serve
Directions
- In a large fry pan, heat cooking oil on medium high heat. Add the sliced onion and garlic and stir fry until garlic is golden brown and onions are transparent.
- Add the prepared vegetables and stir fry for about 4 minutes until the veggies are crisp tender. Add soy sauce fish sauce and oyster sauce and 1/4 cup water. Add the cooked meat and mix thru. Remove half of this to a plate and set aside. This will be used to top the noodles.
- Add the thawed shredded coconut to the pan and stir to mix everything together. You might have to add more water if it looks too dry. There should be a little bit of sauce to coat the coconut strips. Correct the seasoning by adding salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat and transfer the ‘noodles’ to a serving plate. Arrange the reserved topping in step 2 on top of the noodles.
- Garnish with sliced green onions or finely chopped coriander and serve with lemon wedges or calamansi.
Notes
- You can also use seafood. Can be made vegetarian by substituting the meat with mixed mushrooms and omitting oyster sauce.
