Pastil
Pastil (Kagikit at Kanin)
Learn pastil with steamed rice on banana leaf, dark soy-braised chicken kagikit, and spicy calamansi dip—the Mindanao breakfast classic.
Serves 6 · 1h 10m total
The Story
Pastil is Mindanao breakfast you eat with your hands—rice and ulam on a banana leaf, folded into a packet at the market or opened wide on a plate at home like the photo.
The topping is kagikit: chicken shredded fine and cooked in oil with soy sauce, garlic, and spices until the strands turn deep brown and almost dry, so every bite tastes savory and rich against plain white rice. Some vendors tint the rice yellow with turmeric; this version keeps the rice fluffy and white so the dark chicken stands out.
A small bowl of spicy sawsawan—vinegar or bagoong with calamansi and siling labuyo—is what wakes it up. Pair with hot coffee and pandesal if you want the full carinderia spread.
Best paired with
Pandesal, hot coffee or sikwate, and extra calamansi on the side.
Use it in these KusinaPH recipes
Lola's Tips
- ✦Kagikit should look dark brown and dry-ish, not pale or wet—keep cooking until the soy caramelizes on the strands.
- ✦Plain white rice is traditional in many home and market versions; turmeric rice is optional, not required.
- ✦Wilt the banana leaf for aroma and so it bends without tearing when you pack or fold.
- ✦Shred chicken when still warm—it separates into finer strands.
- ✦For packed pastil to go, fold the leaf into a parcel; for eating at the table, open the leaf flat like the photo.
Substitutions
- chicken → shredded beef or fish flakes
- bagoong sawsawan → soy sauce with vinegar and chili
- banana leaves → parchment for wrapping (less aroma)
Ingredients
placeholder
placeholder
placeholder
placeholder
placeholder
placeholder
Instructions
- 1
Poach chicken in salted water until fully cooked; cool, then shred into fine, hair-like strips—the finer the shred, the better the kagikit clings to the rice.
- 2
Heat oil in a wide pan. Sauté garlic, onion, and ginger until soft and fragrant. Add shredded chicken, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, and pepper.
- 3
Cook over medium heat, stirring often, 12–18 minutes until the chicken turns deep brown, slightly crisp at the edges, and almost dry—this is kagikit. Taste and adjust saltiness.
- 4
Stir bagoong with vinegar, calamansi juice, and sliced chilies for sawsawan; or serve vinegar-chili with calamansi halves on the side as in the photo.
- 5
Wilt banana leaves briefly over a flame. Place a leaf on a plate. Pack a mound of hot white rice on the leaf. Top generously with kagikit. Serve with the spicy dip and calamansi.
Kitchen Timer · 25 min prep first
45:00
