July 5, 2012

Desperate College Kid: Corned Beef Pancit Canton

The worst feeling is in the world is hunger. The worstest feeling in the world is hunger during midnight.

Like a zit smack in the middle of your face, midnight hunger grows bigger and stronger by the minute. Sad thing is, there’s no easy fix for it as you can’t go anywhere because everywhere’s closed so you’re forced to make-do with what’s left in your cupboard.

When experiencing midnight hunger, the first thought is, “I require a big pile of something to satisfy my craving.”

Most of the time, that something doesn’t necessarily have to make sense—like Spam and Nutella, or a cheese omelette piled with catsup, mustard, and mayonnaise. Your gut’s screaming it wants carbs and meat or something ridiculous and filling, but your brain’s screaming, “How?!”

This is why we have created someone who can sympathize with you: The Desperate College Kid.

It is he who knows the calling of the midnight grumbling, he who knows the sad and pathetic sight of a wallet that’s been emptied out on booze and photocopies, and he who takes refuge in sari-sari stores and 7/11s (or MiniStops) for cheap meals to survive until he gets his next allowance.

He is your brother and your best friend…or the man in the mirror.

For Desperate College Kid’s first post, we’d like to satisfy your urgent pasta craving.

The thing is, real and good pasta require effort and ingredients. Desperate College Kid has neither of those. He just wants to eat something pasta-like enough so he can get back to doing his all-nighter—productive or not. All he has are some nourishment supplies that were intended to last him in the event of a zombie apocalypse (or he’s just run out of money) and some cooking instruments. It is his talent to improvise or close his eyes and imagine genuine Italian herbs and spices flowing into his mouth as spoonful after spoonful of panton (pancit canton) pass through his lips. The logic behind it is that if it works, it works.

And this definitely works.

—

If you have more ideas for Desperate College Kid, feel free to tell us in the comments below!

Panton with Corned Beef

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

1 pack Instant Noodles (any brand)
1 can Corned Beef (any brand)

Procedure

Mix together.
Eat until full.
Make another serving as needed.

Post Contributors

Dwight Co

Design & Technology / Founder

Mylene Chung

Director of Photography / Founder

Rich Tuason

Comments

Kasey

omg lol the drawings!monte cristo sandwiches used to keep me up during senior year, but not the fancy french kind, unfortunately! toasted white bread (pandesal works too), thinly sliced spam (instead of ham), kraft cheese slices (instead of gruyere, har har), and strawberry jam. the entire thing tastes even more glorious when fried with a touch of butter.
- http://twitter.com/dwightco Dwight Co
  
  LOLOL! Ang laking downgrade from Gruyere to Processed Cheese Slices. hehehe. This sounds awesome though, Makeshift Monte Cristo Sandwich. Let’s make one in the future!
  - Kasey
    
    i’m totally game for that! i also have a food hack for pizza – takes just under 15 minutes!
http://www.ferdinandcc.org/ Lester Nelson

I’ve made a lot of bizarre McNugget creations in my youth; not out of desperation, but out of morbid curiosity.

McNuggets with chocolate syrup: okay, and can easily be gotten at any McDonald’s if you ask nicely.
McNuggets with caramel sauce: sublime. If you’re in the states, this can also be gotten at your local McDonald’s, since they sell “Apple Dippers” (apple wedges with caramel dip)
McNuggets with southwest salsa: also great
McNuggets with bleu cheese dressing: amazing
McNuggets with ranch dressing: pales in comparison to bleu cheese
McNuggets with kimchi: two great tastes that definitely taste great together
McNuggets with chocolate milkshake: even better than French fries with chocolate milkshake!

Basically, I think McNuggets taste awesome no matter what I dip them in.

My desperation foods are usually slapped between slices of whatever bread I have around. Century tuna with peanut butter? Sure! But tuna tastes much better with crushed nilla wafers in them.

I bought ten dollars worth of top ramen when I was in college, when they were on an amazing sale of ten for a dollar. I kept them in my car-top carrier for months, grabbing a pack when I’d get desperate. I once tried coating a whole brick of dry ramen noodles in egg, dipping them in bread crumbs, and deep frying them. I was already sick of ramen, so I didn’t exactly love it, but I guess it was good to try it a different way. Sometimes, I’d just lay in bed, unwrap a brick of ramen, poor the flavor pack directly on it, and eat it like a candy bar.
- http://twitter.com/dwightco Dwight Co
  
  Can we steal ideas from your comment? HAHA. A McNuggets post would be mind-blowing.
  - http://www.ferdinandcc.org/ Lester Nelson
    
    I would be happy to write a McGuestPost if you’d like!
    - http://twitter.com/dwightco Dwight Co
      
      Hahaha! Let’s talk about in Facebook!
  - http://www.ferdinandcc.org/ Lester Nelson
    
    Also I’ve come up with two great McNugget party craft ideas, if you’re interested.
- Sandy
  
  THIS IS SMART!
- Karlsampang
  
  … in Patis.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Sumo/664522880 Ryan Sumo

A “fancier” way of preparing this is to mix it with canned mushrooms and some korean cabbage, somethign I used to do a lot during college. Top it off with a fried egg and you’re good for the day!
- http://twitter.com/dwightco Dwight Co
  
  We can do that, too! Mushroom Kimchi Lucky Me…plus, fried egg works wonders with just about anything hehe.
Karlsampang

College “soup”
feeds a barkada of three tohalf a classroom, depending on how much water you put into it.
1 can cream of mushroom soup – the cheap kind
1 small can shredded or chunky corned beef
1 can mushroom, whole or sliced

Just put everything in a pot and add watter andsalt and flour to accomodate more people who came into your apartment becausse their apartment is now flooded, lives, ruined and study notes, lost forever
- http://twitter.com/dwightco Dwight Co
  
  LOL. So, the concept is, more people = more flour + water + salt. I think buffets do that hehehe.
  - Karlsampang
    
    Yes, in our orphanage of impoverished college students, no one will be denied a second helping of “soup.”
    
    Alternatively, vetsin.
    - mj
      
      vetsin is so bad.
Lexie

can defly do this with spicy chicken yakisoba. <3<3<3
Gabbie

Augh, I love you Pepper.ph team for bringing back memories of my college comfort food. I had this many times in my dorm room, under the covers while bawling over One More Chance. But instead of corned beef, I used to add Maling and cubes of cheese. MMM
Joseph

I made Hongkong style noodles sold in foodstalls using Nissin Chicken Teriyaki Yakisoba and blanched or quickly sauteed togue or any vegetables. Pan-frying the instant noodles until crispy makes them yummier. My roommates love it. I was inspired by a local cooking show idea of using Instant Pancit Canton in their fried Chow Mien. The instant pancit company sponsored the segment. But the chef added fancy ingredients like imitation crab, mushrooms, and fried kikiam and dashed Chinese cooking wine in the prepared sauce. I thought that was cheating. If you have money to buy those fancy ingredients then might as well buy some decent dried noodles. Hehe.
Kyle

Genius. I just made one today! A pack of LMPC calamansi+pack of chilimansi+leftover braised beef. Im so loving this
http://asterozoa.tumblr.com/ Kat

I was never this desperate in college, but I did see some culinary low points afterward, when I started living alone:

+ the time I scraped off the filling a failed microwave lasagna and put it on bread
+ the week I ate nothing but pork and beans on top of microwaved potatoes

The lasagna thing happened twice because I somehow thought things would go differently the second time.
Joycey Romero

Was one back in college. Anyhow, this definitely saved my life a few times – the Century Tuna (or any brand) Adobo/Mechado (whatever variant too) + crushed Skyflakes. Mm-mmm. Nothing like a good lifesaver meal from the trust Ministop downstairs.
http://laagnalilyput.wordpress.com/ Lily

Oh the good old college days, where budget and laziness beget culinary ingeniousness…
Raizza

Panton + Cheez Whiz
http://asterozoa.tumblr.com/ Kat

Grilled leftover macaroni and cheese sandwich, for major carb and dairy overload.

1. Butter a slice of bread and place it butter side down on a baking pan. The little pan of a toaster oven works fine.
2. Cover the other side with cheese. So far, cream cheese and cheddar both produce good results. Haven’t tried them together (yet).
3. Top with ham (optional) and macaroni and cheese. For best Desperate College Kid experience, use leftovers.
4. Top with even more cheese. If using a spread, just spread it on the other piece of bread.
5. Top with the bread. Spread butter on the top-facing slice of bread.
6. Bake in a toaster oven for 2-5 minutes, depending on how crispy you want the outside.
7. (optional) Slice into triangles.
8. Enjoy!
Sara

Hmmm, remembering my boarding days at Baguio, haha! Whenever my roomies and I had little to no money and allowances weren’t coming anytime soon, we’d pool all the rice we had left and cook it all in one big go. Then, I’d dig through whatever was in the cupboard and come up with some sort of feeling-fancy fried rice mix.

Best one so far, combining only the finest (and technically edible) of our sad leftovers:

Hungry Girls’ Tuna Rice:

2 cans Century Tuna, adobo or menudo flavor (bought on credit from the kind sari-sari store lady)
Dried tinapa flakes (from someone’s mom)
Some Alaska evaporated milk (still smelled good so I dumped it in anyway)
Garlic and Onions (also “bought” from same sari sari store lady)
Rice, rice, rice

First, ask roomie who knows how to cook rice to cook the rice. (I could never get the water measurements right).

While rice is cooking, chop up the garlic and onions. Saute in a big frying pan with a bit of oil. (Tip: if there’s leftover oil from last night’s can of sardines, use it. That’s some tasty stuff!)

Crack open the cans of tuna. Dump et.al. into big frying pan. Mix in cooked rice and keep stirring. Once rice is hot and pretty much smothered with the tuna mix, pour in the leftover evap milk and keep mixing. The milk helps balance the saltiness and helps extend the adobo/menudo flavor. Toss in all the tinapa flakes to bring back lost saltiness and to add some crunch.

Serve on a big platter and don’t bother with plates. Just hand everyone a spoon and dig in!

Serves 8 hungry girls, in my experience.

P.S. She who cooks needs not wash.
http://www.facebook.com/annenime Maryanne Margrethe Palag

wasn’t a DCK, but when i started living alone, lunch of sinigang na bangus sa miso became rice + sinigang broth in hot water.

On normal days, I’d just go sesame oil + rice/pasta. Swerte ko na if i had cheese: sesame oil + rice + cheese is awesome.

SESAME OIL IS AWESOME. it’s… just… awesome.