About this recipe
Pancit is a category rather than a dish, and the noodle names the version. Bihon are thin, brittle, white rice vermicelli that soften quickly and absorb whatever they are cooked in — which is why the stock here is seasoned before the noodles ever touch it. Pancit canton uses thick wheat-and-egg noodles, sotanghon uses mung-bean glass noodles, palabok uses a thicker rice noodle under a shrimp-and-annatto gravy, and each is its own dish. Pancit appears at birthdays across the country; the association between long noodles and long life is widely repeated and is logged for verification rather than asserted here.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 20 minutes
- Total
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy–Moderate
- Spice
- Mild
Allergens Contains soy, wheat (soy sauce) and shellfish (prawns). Omit the prawns and use a wheat-free soy sauce to avoid both.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The noodles
- 12 oz (340 g) dried bihon (thin rice vermicelli)
The stock
- 4 cups (950 ml) chicken stock
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) soy sauce
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fish sauce (patis)
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) ground black pepper
The stir-fry
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) neutral oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, sliced thin
- 8 oz (225 g) boneless chicken thigh, cut into thin strips
- 6 oz (170 g) pork shoulder, cut into thin strips
- 6 oz (170 g) peeled raw prawns (optional)
- 2 medium carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
- 6 oz (170 g) green beans, sliced thin on the diagonal
- 1/2 small green cabbage, about 12 oz (340 g), shredded
- 2 stalks celery, sliced thin (optional)
To serve
- 4 calamansi, halved, or 2 limes cut into wedges
- 2 scallions, sliced thin
- 3 tbsp (15 g) crisp fried garlic (optional)
Equipment
- Wok or 14 in (35 cm) wide skillet
- Tongs or two wooden spoons for lifting the noodles
- Large bowl for soaking
Method
- Soak the bihon in cool water 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly and set aside.
- Combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, fish sauce and black pepper in a jug. Taste it — it should be slightly saltier than you would want to drink, because the noodles will absorb all of it.
- Heat the oil in the wok over high heat. Fry the minced garlic 30 seconds until pale gold, then add the onion and cook 1 minute.
- Add the chicken and pork strips and stir-fry 4-5 minutes, until cooked through and lightly coloured. Add the prawns if using and cook 1 minute more, just until they turn opaque.
- Add the carrots and green beans and stir-fry 2 minutes, then the cabbage and the celery if using, and cook 2 minutes more, until everything is crisp-tender.
- Lift about half the meat and vegetables out into a bowl and reserve — this becomes the topping and keeps it from overcooking.
- Pour the seasoned stock into the wok and bring to a boil.
- Add the drained bihon and toss constantly with tongs, lifting from underneath, 4-6 minutes, until the noodles have absorbed nearly all the liquid and are tender but still separate.
- Return the reserved meat and vegetables, toss through, and check the seasoning.
- Turn onto a large platter. Scatter with scallions and fried garlic if using, and arrange the calamansi halves around the edge. Squeezing calamansi over the noodles at the table is part of the dish, not a garnish.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Pancit Bihon sits in the Philippines chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Philippines chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.