Midnight Express: More on Cavite's cuisine: Hearty valenciana and sweet pansate

Last week, Saksi's Midnight Express featured Cavite's onde-onde and sopa de fideo. But there's so much the province has to offer by way of cuisine, so host Mikael Daez remained in the same food spot this week to taste two more of Caviteños' favorites: valenciana and pansate.

Meet valenciana, paella's cousin

Valenciana is a rice dish that the Filipinos inherited from the Spaniards. According to the Caviteños, the dish originated from Valencia, Spain, and is like paella but without the seafood.



Aside from rice, you will need garlic, onions, tomatoes, eggs, garbanzos, raisins, sweet potato, green peas, coconut milk, bell pepper, atsuete (annatto) and butter to whip up this dish at home. And instead of seafood, valenciana uses chicken and hotdogs. This is what makes this dish different from its cousin paella.

Sauté the garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Add the chicken. When the meat softens, add atsuete for coloring. Then, add the butter and rice. Allow it to boil, then add the coconut milk. Wait for the rice to be cooked before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cover with banana leaves to make the dish tastier. Leave for around 30 minutes.

During his taste test, Mikael described valenciana as feel-good food. He added, "'Yung paella kasi nalalasahan mo 'yung lansa ng seafood. Dahil karne, umiiba nang kaunti 'yung lasa [ng valenciana]. Pero at the same time, 'yung pagka-java rice niya pareho pa rin," he said.

Pansate, the sweet and spicy midnight snack

Let's get to know another dish that originated from Cavite!

Pansate is an old version of the all-time favorite, pancit, and based on Indonesia's sweet and spicy satay. A long time ago, the Chinese used satay sauce to make pancit. But Filipinos eventually changed it to sesame oil to make it more familiar to local palates.



This dish requires garlic, onions, sesame oil, lomi noodles, sayote, cabbage, carrots, Baguio beans, chicken stock, flour mixture, and pork liver to taste, plus hot sauce for additional kick!

To make pansate at home, sauté the garlic, onions, and pork liver. Add sesame oil, Baguio beans, carrots, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then add flour mixture to make the soup creamier. Then add lomi noodles and cabbage.

For most Caviteños, pansate is best paired with pan de sal. Whether you're just home from a long day at work or pulling an all-nighter for school, this noodle soup will definitely perk up your senses.

And, make sure to eat this dish when it's still hot and fresh: a friendly tip from Mikael. — Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News

Midnight Express airs weekdays on GMA 7's Saksi.