Palabok Jollibee-Style

Palabok Jollibee-Style is the way to go if you are craving a pancit palabok and can't go to the nearest restaurant. Tasty, savory, and satisfying rice noodle dish that you can make in the comfort of your own home in 30 minutes!

I have been wanting to go to my happy place, which is the Jollibee Restaurant Seattle area, but it is an hour away, not including traffic. I just decided to make my very own pancit palabok and make it better than the restaurant menu.

What is pancit palabok Jollibee style?

Pancit Palabok is a variation of pancit, a classic dish many Filipinos enjoy. Despite the many different kinds of pancit in the country, palabok is easily recognized by specific trademark characteristics: its thin noodles with yellow-orange sauce. 

Palabok sauce is usually a combination of ground pork, shrimp stock, and annatto powder, giving that palabok sauce a nice and vibrant orange color. Some say that one synonym of palabok is “salsa na malapot” –– meaning a sauce that is gooey and dense. Palabok usually serve with toppings such as hard-boiled eggs, ground meat, shrimp, chicharron, and finely chopped scallions.

Jollibee is one of the most well-known fast-food chain restaurants in the Philippines, and they have branches in some countries around the world. Most of their menus are Filipino-inspired food; it is always busy because it is delicious. They have the best pancit palabok on the fiesta menu, which is one of the most popular dishes where the name palabok Jollibee Style came from.

You will love this recipe

• Palabok is one of the easiest rice noodle dishes that you can make at home without going out to your Jollibee restaurant.
• It is made with yummy and tasty sauce and topped with delicious toppings that you will surely love.
• If you love this Jollibee Pancit Palabok, be sure to check my Pancit Bihon and Jollibee Spaghetti

Ingredients Notes

• pancit bihon - Pancit palabok uses thin rice noodles compared to pancit malabon which uses thick and usually cornstarch noodles. These noodles can be found in most Asian Stores if you live abroad.
• ground pork - You can use this or ground beef. I prefer 80/20 with meat with 20% fat gives more flavor. You can also use pork belly slices as a protein source.
• shrimp - This gives so much flavor to Jollibee palabok including the shrimp stock.
• annatto powder - It gives vibrant yellow-orange color to the sauce. You can't skip this, but you can use annatto seeds instead of powder.
• cornstarch - To thicken sauces, cornstarch is one of the most effective ways. It needs to be diluted in water before adding it to the skillet. Otherwise, it will turn into big lumps. No cornstarch? You can use Arrowroot powder or tapioca powder with the same amount as cornstarch.
• fish sauce - It is the main seasoning, but you can simply use salt if you don't have fish sauce.

For the toppings

Palabok Jollibee-style toppings are usually:

• crushed chicharron
• hard-boiled eggs
• shrimp and ground meat
• chopped scallions, chives, or green onions
• lemon slice

Instructions

Prepare all the ingredients and toppings. Chop the scallions and onions into small dice, mince the garlic, boil the eggs and crush the chicharron. Then proceed to cook.

To soak or not to soak? To prepare the pancit bihon or rice noodles, you have two options:

• Soak it in water for about 15 minutes or until it breaks apart easily and softens, then drain the water into the sink or,
• Boil about 8 cups of water with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Cook noodles in boiling salt water until al dente. This will take only a few minutes, so you need to watch out. Take it out and set it aside. Don't throw the water away!
• If you go to the latter option, you can cook the whole shrimp with the head, skin and tail on until it turns opaque in color. Take it out to cool, remove the head, skin, and tail, and set it aside for toppings. Save the boiled water as shrimp stock for the sauce.

Making the sauce. Grab a large skillet and get ready for the exciting part. For the palabok sauce, start to sautee your onion and garlic until fragrant. Then add ground pork, fish sauce, and black pepper. A wooden spatula breaks meat into tiny pieces to cook it faster. Stir occasionally and let it cook until it turns light brown.

Be sure to dissolve the annatto powder into the shrimp stock, then pour it into the skillet. Let it boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Add more water, a half cup at a time if needed.

Dissolve the cornstarch in half a cup of cold water. Pour it into the sauce, and stir continuously until the sauce thickened. Taste and adjust your seasoning with salt and black pepper accordingly.

Serving. Place some noodles on a serving plate. Pour enough of the sauce on top of the noodles, then arrange the toppings over the sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Make-ahead, Storage Tips, and reheating

• Make-ahead: To make Jollibee palabok ahead, you can make the sauce a day or two before serving. Also, you can prepare all the toppings in advance to save time, store them in each separate containers, and keep everything in the refrigerator until needed.
• Storage Tips: Store everything in different containers. To avoid spoilage, do not mix the sauce and noodles until ready to serve. This will help to store them longer in the fridge. It will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
• Reheating: Transfer the noodles with the sauce to a saucepan. Reheat over medium heat, often stirring, until warm through. Or use a microwave for 2 minutes, stirring midway through heating.