The Happy Home Cook: Pancit Choco en su Tinta (Pancit Pusit)

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Pancit Choco en su Tinta (Pancit Pusit) (Photo by Stanley Ong)

Food historian and author Ige Ramos described in his cookbook “Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine that Pancit Choco en su Tinta (Pancit Pusit) is an archetypal Chabacano dish, choko being the Chabacano for cuttlefish, also known as pancit pusit or pancit negra, because of its black color, it was at one time only eaten during Lent or funerals. However, it was virtually unknown outside Cavite City as it was only cooked and served for the humble tables of Cavite City, Rosario, Tanza, and Noveleta. Different accounts surround its invention. In the Cavite housewives’ version, vermicelli noodles and soup stock are added to left-over adobong pusit to extend its life, making the pancit more soupy than dry. The other was the fishermen’s account in which they kept the remaining cuttlefish after selling. Pancit Pusit was popularized by Sonny Lua of Asiong’s Carinderia in the mid-2000s.

*Reprinted from Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine by Ige Ramos

Republic of Taste: The Untold Stories of Cavite Cuisine by Ige Ramos

Ingredients:

½ kg. fresh squid

2 Tablespoons squid ink

¼ cup vinegar

½ cup water

2 Tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

3 bay leaves

Pepper, to taste

½ kg. sotanghon (cellophane noodles), briefly soaked in water

For garnish:

Bunch of kinchay (Chinese parsley/Asian celery), coarsely chopped

Siling labuyo (bird’s eye chilies), chopped

Kamias (bilimbi), sliced

Toasted garlic 

Procedure

Gently clean the squid, carefully remove the ink sac without puncturing. Slice the squid into rings and the tentacles into bite-size pieces. Place the squid ink in a container with ¼ cup vinegar and ½ cup water.

Sautee the garlic, onion, siling labuyo and bay leaves. Add the squid and cook for two minutes.

Add the vinegar, water, squid ink, and patis. Let the mixture boil.

Add the sotanghon. Cook in low heat and mix gently, until the sotanghon absorbs the liquid.

Adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a serving platter with sliced kamias. Sprinkle with kinchay, chopped siling labuyo and toasted garlic.

Cooking notes from Ige Ramos: Alternately, left-over adobong posit can be used as the base of the pancit. Just follow the directions on how to cook the sotanghon. In making adobong pusit, sauté the squid in onion, garlic, and vinegar with its ink. Be careful not to overcook the squid, as overcooking will make it very tough.

For more on Ige Ramos, visit: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/food-historian-ige-ramos-serves-cavites-unsung-cuisine