Pancit Palabok

I am missing our old friends in Texas who make very good Palabok. I tried making it many times, but I can't seem to get it right or at least the right taste. I want to make it out of scratch instead of the recipe using the ready made sauce you can buy at the Asian store.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo miki noodles

1/2 kilo small crabs

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons of atchuete seeds or oil

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

4 tablespoons of cornstarch, dissolved in water

1 teaspoon of MSG (optional)

1 1/2 cups of water

Toppings:

Tinapa flakes (smoked fish)

Cooked shrimps, shelled

Squid adobo, sliced into rings

Pork chicharon, grounded

Spring onions, chopped

Hard boiled eggs, shelled, sliced

Fried garlic, minced

Fresh calamansi (lemon), sliced

Procedures:

Extract fat and meat from clean crabs, set aside.

Pound crab and extract juice on 1 1/2 cups of water

On a pan, saute garlic and onions until golden brown then add crab fat, crab meat, 1 1/2 cups of crab wash, fish sauce and MSG. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add corn starch and continue to simmer while constantly stirring until thick.

Put miki noodles in a strainer and dip in boiling water for 5 minutes or until cooked.

Lay drained noodles on a platter and pour the palabok sauce. Garnish with toppings and serve.