‘Pancit Bihon‘ is another Filipino dish that I have learnt to make. It refers to rice noodles steeped in chicken broth on high heat. The heat allows the broth to be absorbed by the noodles and then any extra moisture evaporates to get a fairly dry noodle dish. It tastes very similar to the Singaporean Chinese Bee Hoon. ’Pancit Bihon‘ is a relatively easy dish to make and so is the perfect choice on days you are feeling really tired from work. I usually make this on days when I am tutoring as I just have no more energy left by the end of the day. The recipe I have is from a lady very dear to Hasan and me, Lola. ‘Lola’ in Filipino refers to grandmother. One of our best friends, Jeff, is a Filipino and Lola is his grandmother. She is a sweet little lady, filled with so much passion for cooking. Needless to say, her cooking is top notch. 
Over the years, I have learnt a few authentic Filipino dishes from her one of which is the ‘Pancit Bihon’. It was the first Filipino dish she taught me 7 years ago when I first met her.
Pancit Bihon
Ingredients:
- Flat/Thin Rice Noodles - 200 gm
- Chopped Snow Peas - 1/2 cup
- Shredded Cabbage - 1/2 cup
- Chopped Celery - 1/2 cup
- Shredded Carrots - 1/2 cup
- Onion - 1, chopped finely
- Peeled Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped finely
- Water - 2 cups
- Garlic Powder - 1 tsp
- Black Pepper Powder - A pinch
- Chicken Broth Powder - 1 tsp
- Soy Sauce - 3 tbsp or more if needed
- Chicken Breast Fillet - 200 gm, diced into small cubes
- Peeled Prawns - 100 gm
- Fishcake - 100 gm, sliced thinly
Instructions:
- Boil the measured amount of water and add the diced chicken to it.
- When the water is boiling, add the diced chicken, soy sauce, chicken broth powder, garlic powder and black pepper powder. Taste for salt. My suggestion is to not add too much soy sauce as this can destroy the chicken broth taste in the noodles. So add the measured amount first and once the whole dish is ready, taste again for salt. If there is not enough, then add more soy sauce.
- Add the rice noodles into the broth mixture and let it cook on high heat till the noodles absorb the mixture. If the noodles are still soggy, let them cook further you get a fairly dry look.
- Remove and set noodles aside for 10-15 minutes to dry further.
- Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil and add the onions.
- Saute the sliced onion till it turns golden brown in colour.
- Add the garlic in and saute for a few seconds.
- Throw in the vegetables, peeled prawns and fishcake and stir fry to mix them all for approximately 2-3 minutes. I like my vegetables to be a little bit overcooked so I keep the vegetables in the pan for about 2 minutes before removing them.
- Add the cooked vegetables, prawns and fishcake to the noodles, mix well and Pancit Bihon is ready to be dished out :-)
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely smartly written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your useful information. Thank you for the post. I’ll certainly return.