When my spouse, Grace, and I moved from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley nearly a decade ago, we welcomed so many new day-to-day things into our lives. Fresh air, mountains, more deer than people, all the quiet and space. We mourned little from our city life – except for takeout.

Then Harana Market arrived. The original location, in Woodstock, N.Y., opened in 2021, in a space that previously housed an old general store. Grace and I would drive to the Asian market and Filipino restaurant not only to get the kind of food we had previously loved in the city (soulful food that doesn’t cater exclusively to White people), but to also feel the warm hospitality from the queer couple who run Harana: Eva Tringali and Chris Mauricio.

Then, just a couple of months ago, a remarkable thing happened: Harana Market changed locations and moved 25 miles south, to Accord, where we live. Now we get to enjoy Harana not merely as customers, but also as neighbors.

Chris and Eva describe their business as a “safe third place for local queer, trans, AAPI and BIPOC communities” to connect. They offer a pay-it-forward gift wall that invites visitors to give or take prepaid meal vouchers, and every Sunday, LGBTQIA+ people have the option to eat free. This is all to say: There’s so much heart in Harana. It would be a culturally meaningful and compassionate business worth supporting even if its food wasn’t great. But, no surprise here, it is great.

A few weeks ago, Chris invited me into their kitchen to show me how to make mushroom pancit, what they refer to as “an offering for my vegetarian and vegan friends.” Chris’s grandmother taught Chris how to make the stir-fried noodle dish, which she would often bring to church potlucks and family birthday parties.

It starts with the best two-for-one recipe I know: fried, crispy garlic, which leaves you not just with the irresistible crunchy garlic pieces, but also with fragrant garlic oil. This combo is the backbone of so many of Chris’s dishes. They normally make it in a gigantic kawali (a.k.a. a Filipino wok) that once belonged to their grandmother, enough at one time to make dozens of portions of garlic fried rice, pancit and more.

Once the garlic is crisped and set aside to cool, Chris adds even more fresh minced garlic to the oil along with ginger and onions. When those have softened, in go mushrooms to get browned. Chris adds vegetable broth (Chris, like me, is a fan of Better Than Bouillon to speed things along), soy sauce and a shiitake stir-fry sauce in place of the oyster sauce typically used in pancit. (“This is the secret ingredient,” Chris tells me when I ask whether it’s okay to share the secret. I’m the first person they’ve ever shared this with publicly, they tell me. I feel very honored by this, and I hope you do, too.) Then, the star of the show, the pancit noodles, get placed in the simmering mixture to cook, absorbing all of that flavor as they soften. Finally, more fresh vegetables join the wok party: snap peas, shredded cabbage and carrots.

Chris serves the noodles sprinkled not only with the crispy garlic, but also with thinly sliced scallions, lots of freshly cracked black pepper and big lemon wedges for squeezing on top. While the noodles are wonderfully versatile (you could incorporate different vegetables or start the process with cubed boneless chicken thighs or thinly sliced Chinese sausage), it’s the topping quadfecta – savory fried garlic, herbaceous scallions, spicy black pepper and tart lemon – that is key. Together, the toppings bring a deep-yet-bright harmony to the whole dish.

Thank you to Chris for sharing this lovely recipe with us and to both them and Eva for running such a kind, thoughtful business that helps me feel even more at home in the place I am so happy to call home.

Mushroom Pancit

Serves 4 to 6 (about 6 cups)

Total time: 50 minutes

This deeply savory mushroom noodle dish comes from chef Chris Mauricio of Harana Market in Accord, N.Y. Mauricio runs Harana with their spouse, Eva Tringali. They sell lutong bahay (homestyle) Filipino food and a selection of Asian groceries. Mauricio’s grandmother taught them how to make pancit, and it’s as great for big potluck parties as it is for a simple weeknight dinner.

Storage notes: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Where to buy: Pancit canton noodles (Mauricio recommends the Excellent brand) can be found at Asian markets and online. Shiitake stir-fry sauce from a brand such as Wan Ja Shan can be found at Asian markets and online.

INGREDIENTS

Servings: 4-6 (makes about 6 cups)

3/4 cup canola oil or other neutral oil

14 large garlic cloves, minced and divided (about 1/2 cup)

1 small red onion (4 ounces), finely chopped

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Fine salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons oyster sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce or shiitake stir-fry sauce (see Where to buy)

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup water

8 ounces pancit canton noodles (see Where to buy)

3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) sugar snap peas, ends trimmed

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated

3 cups (8 ounces) finely shredded napa cabbage

4 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias, for serving

1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS

In a large wok or your largest skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add half of the garlic and cook, stirring often, until golden brown and crisp, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon or a small fine-mesh sieve to transfer the crispy garlic to a small bowl; set aside.

Make the pancit: Return the pan to medium heat, add the remaining garlic to the garlic-infused oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn golden brown, about 1 minute. Add the onions and ginger, and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, just until the onions begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until browned, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, broth and water, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to high, bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat so the mixture is at a gentle simmer and cook until the flavor has a chance to develop a bit, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and/or pepper, as needed.

Gently add the dry noodles to the broth and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring gingerly, so as to not break the noodles too much, until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the noodles, 3 to 5 minutes. Gently stir in the snap peas and cook until just tender, about 1 minute. Add the carrots and cabbage, and cook until the vegetables are just barely softened, about 2 minutes. At this point, all of the sauce should have been absorbed by the noodles.

Transfer the mixture to a serving dish and sprinkle with the reserved crispy garlic and the scallions. Grind over a generous amount of fresh black pepper and serve hot, with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Substitutions:

Instead of the pancit noodles, try low mein or chow mein, and refer to the package instructions. (Note: The dish may be a little more brothy).

For a completely vegan version, use the shiitake stir-fry sauce (see Where to buy).

Nutritional facts per serving (1 cup, based on 6) | Calories: 469; Fat: 35 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Carbohydrates: 33 g; Sodium: 934 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Protein: 7 g; Fiber: 4 g; Sugar 6 g.

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