Bam-i

Tonight's meal is going to be a kind of bam-i. This is a Cebuano specialty noodle dish, often served at feasts and banquets. Its chief feature is that it contains two types of noodles: a kind of soft chow mein noodle made from eggs and wheat, and those thin, translucent, vermicelli-like noodles that are actually, somehow, made from green beans. I think that in Cantonese the latter are called sai foon. I have no idea what the name bam-i translates to, if anything: ask a Cebuano and he'll tell you it means a pancit (noodle) dish with two kinds of noodles. :)

Bam-i normally contains a mixture of pork, chicken, liver, shrimp and sometimes squid, as well as shredded cabbage, shredded or Julienned carrots, red bell peppers, and wood-ear fungus which is sold dried then rehydrated and sliced prior to cooking with it. I don't have most of these things as we still haven't done our biweekly grocery shopping yet, due to the stormy weather. All I have is what I found in the cupboard, which was a package of each of the two kinds of noodles; and what I found at the local mini-market, which was three small pieces of chicken thigh meat, half a cabbage and a carrot (I forgot to get red bell peppers.) So, my bam-i is going to be way simpler than the normal recipes that people prepare to serve to guests and such.



Ingredients:

Chicken thigh meat, cut into approximately two-inch cubes: about two cups' worth

Half a small cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

One medium carrot, peeled and Julienned

One small onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

One head of garlic (10 to 12 cloves), peeled and slightly crushed

One or two chicken bouillon cubes, to taste, dissolved in hot chicken stock

One package dried chow mein-style egg noodles, 150 grams

One package bean noodles (Chinese vermicelli), 200 grams

Two tablespoons soy sauce

Two tablespoons cooking oil

Water

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Three or four calimansi or lemon wedges for garnish


Instructions:

Cook the chicken pieces in a large skillet, in enough water to halfway cover the chicken. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally for thorough cooking.

Drain and reserve the chicken stock. Add a chicken bouillon cube to the reserved stock, stir it to dissolve, and taste. Add a second cube if you think it needs it (stock should be pretty strong as it has to season the noodles and cabbage.)

Dry the skillet, return to heat and add the cooking oil, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until the onion gets tender and the pieces (layers) become separated.

Add one tablespoon of soy sauce. Stir well and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Return the chicken pieces and the stock to the skillet and heat through. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Add the cabbage and carrots. Raise the heat slightly until the chicken stock is quite bubbly. Add the chow mein noodles, cover and heat through. When the noodles start to soften, stir to separate them then cook, covered for three minutes. There should be just enough chicken stock, and juices from the vegetables, to soften and steam the noodles.

Take the bean noodles and soak them in water briefly to soften: about a minute. Drain well. Cut them into shorted lengths with scissors then add to the skillet. Stir, cover and cook for about a minute or two.

Stir in the sesame oil and more soy sauce to taste. Serve hot over cooked rice with calimansi or lemon wedges, the juice of which is squeezed over the bam-i according to the diners' taste. Serves four. The finished dish should be quite dry, with very little if any sauce, and the vegetables should be cooked yet still crispy.