My craving for Pancit Malabon came when my sister Bebeng showed off the dishes she prepared for her and Kuya Jun's celebration of their wedding anniversary.  It is a popular noodle dish from Malabon, Metro Manila Philippines where I am originally from.  It is made with ground pork, garlic, achuete, fish sauce, pork rind and calamansi juice.  My younger sister Menchie joked that I could perhaps use cauliflower walnut meat for the ground pork.  I shared with her the YouTube video of my recent demo online on the use of this meat substitute which I conducted for the Plant Based Pittsburgh group I belonged to.  

I decided to give it a try.  I have expanded the use of this versatile meat substitute for another Filipino dish menudo and the Italian dish Bolognese.  Of course, it is used for making tacos as it was originally conceived to be used.  

I was happy with the result.  It has the citrusy, salty and garlicky flavor of the original.   I used lots of dry minced garlic, soy sauce instead of fish sauce and lemon juice instead of calamansi juice.  The spices in the cauliflower walnut meat enhanced the dish and helped flavored it.  It definitely took me back home to Malabon.   

Vegan Pancit Malabon

2 cups cauliflower walnut meat (recipe below)
4 tbsp Soy sauce
Lemon juice from 1 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp garlic flakes
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup chopped celery

2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water to form a slurry
2 stalks green onions chopped
8 oz rice noodles, cooked and rinsed (I cooked mine in the Instant Pot with 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt at high pressure for 1 minute and 4 minutes natural pressure release) 

Add the cauliflower meat, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic flakes, vegetable broth and chopped celery in a skillet and heat the mixture till the broth boils.  Add the cornstarch/water slurry and stir till mixture thickens.

Add the cooked and rinsed rice noodles to the mixture.  Garnish with chopped green onions.

Cauliflower Walnut Meat

Makes about 4-5 cups

Adapted From the website Pinch of Yum

3 cups cauliflower florets 

2 tbsp chipotle peppers from can, chopped

2 cups raw walnuts

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. (You can skip this step if not baking).  

  

Place all the ingredients in a large food processor. If you have a medium sized one, do it in two batches. Pulse till the ingredients are blended and the mixture is mealy in texture. Transfer the mixture into a parchment lined pan and spread the mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes and stir half way.  (You can skip this baking step and use it as is).