Written by: seigfredtristan on July 19, 2010

Good day guys! How was everybody’s Monday? Before moving on to read Myrabella’s story, I suggest you read this first. As you can see, myfilipinokitchen is always open to people who want to contribute their recipes, Filipino food experiences and just simply being Filipino – wherever you are, whoever you are. Obviously, Myrabella was the first to answer. Please give her a warm welcome and feel free to commend her and give her your hi’s and hello’s! So let’s get it on!

-Ziggy

MYRABELLA’S BAM-I RECIPE

What is the one thing we take with us, when we migrate away from our beloved Philippines …. any guess from the readers???? Yes, it is our unique and savory Filipino dishes. For most Filipinos, the time they move out away from their parents, is the very time they learn to live independently. No more moms and house helpers to do our foods or to even wash our clothes. In the real sense of the word, we mature and learn.

From my experience, cooking is really a bizarre thing for me. As a child, my mom used to delegate household chores between my sister and myself. My mom or my sister do the cooking, while I do the gardening and cleaning of the house. In short, I’m only good at eating food served on the table. Cooking didn’t interest me at all on my teenage years.

Life is indeed full of surprises. Luckily I got married to a man, who LOVES cooking. Of course,  that is cooking food that is foreign to our native tongue, but IT gives light to a new hobby, of which I intend to keep. Cooking is not my cup of tea during my teens, but here I am giving it a PUSH as an adult.

One of my favourite is Bam-i, a combination of sotanghon and pansit noodles. A very easy recipe which has the following ingredients:

500grams prawns
300 grams mussels
4 pcs. Carrots ( slice elongated)
50 grams sitaw (slice diagonal)
5 stalks Celery
1 big white onion
5 gloves garlic
1 Knorr cube
1 bottle (the smallest one) oyster sauce
5 tbs. sesame oil
300 grams sotanghon (asian vermicelli or thin rice noodles)
300 grams pansit (egg noodles)

Cooking Process:

Boil the pansit, drain and set aside. I do this so that the pansit, itself will not be overcooked. Which is usually the case when cooked direct to the stir fried prawns and other ingredients.

Let the sotanghon soften in the water for about 6 minutes.

Saute your ingredients beginning with garlic, onions, carrots and sitaw (green beans).

Cover until the vegetables are tender.

Add the prawns and mussels. Add 1 knorr buillion ( its up to you if you like beef, pork or chicken) and 150ml oyster sauce. Cover it for 2 minutes.

When the prawn, mussels and celery are cooked well, add the boiled pansit and sotanghon, along with  5 tbs.  of sesame oil ( if you like it spicy you might as well add some dried chilli seeds before you add the noodles). Stir fry for 5 mins until the sotanghon is cooked. When it is done, so your Bam-i is ready to be served.

By: Myrabella T.

This recipe is part of the series, History of Filipino Food focusing on Chinese Influence

Here’s another noodle dish – La Paz Batchoy