I was raised in a place where this dish is a common fixture on the table: odong and tinapa. While tinapa means smoked fish, Cebuanos refer this to as canned sardines or mackerel. Odong is salted flour noodles characterized by a thin hard texture (soft when cooked) and yellowish color. A worthy substitute is misua, an even thinner version of Chinese noodles.
This is a simple dish but I found it very delicious and easy to cook. I learned to cook this when I was around 10 years old. One time my nanny took a day off and she brought me along with her to visit her family. When we reached their place, it was past 1 pm and we were very hungry. We were literally traveling through rivers and mountains in the middle of the scorching sun, which saps your energy and easily makes you feel like anything served on the table.
Her family was pleasantly surprised to see my nanny and even more surprised that I was with her. Alluding to the typical Filipino hospitality, the family decided to have stewed chicken for lunch. But then, I was starving and I told my nanny that I want to eat right away.
Preparing chicken stew will take around two hours — you need to catch the chicken first and then cull, dress, and clean and takes a lot of procedure before it’s ready at the table. To cut my short story they cook for me this kind of dish that I wanted to share and to hope you like it.
I don’t know if these ingredients are available in your place but us in the Mindanao region we can find it in the supermarket which we call Odong noodles or misua noodles.
Now, I’ve just learned that there are different types of noodles at the same time different kinds of cooking it. It is only a matter of using your imagination and creativity.
Ingredients:
- 1 glove garlic, minced
- 1 big shallot, sliced
- 1 stalk spring onion (optional)
- 1 tin Sardines
- 5 packs odong noodles
- salt and pepper
- vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
Cooking Procedure:
- I a big wok, heat oil add on garlic followed by the sliced onion. Saute until fragrance is observed.
- Add sardines and keep stirring and add water. Let it boil and add odong noodles. Simmer it on a low fire for around 5 minutes or more until the noodles are cooked. Season it with salt and pepper.
- Garnish it with spring onions and serve with rice or bread.
Cooking Tips:
- Do not overcook noodles.
- Do not burn your garlic and onion or else you have a bitter taste.
- Add on green papaya or sayote.
- You can have it with malungay.
- It is also possible to add upo or patola
Table of Contents
Odong at Tinapa
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
- 1 pc Garlic clove minced
- 1 pc Big shallot sliced
- 1 tin Sardines
- 5 packs Odong noodles
- 1/4 tsp Salt and pepper
- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- In a big wok, heat oil add on garlic followed by the sliced onion. Saute until fragrance occurs.
- Add sardines and keep stirring and add water. Let it boil and add odong noodles. Simmer it in a low fire for around 5 minutes or more until noodles are cooked. Season it with salt and pepper.
- Garnish it with spring onions and serve with rice or bread.
Notes
- Do not overcook noodles.
- Do not burn your garlic and onion or else you have a bitter taste.
- Add on green papaya or sayote.
- You can have it with malungay.
- It is also possible to add upo or patola
