Pancit Bihon

Filipino Recipe: 

My first recipe will be an homage, of sorts, to my Grandmother Trina.  I spent many days of my childhood sitting on the kitchen counter, watching in awe as she added ingredients to a sizzling wok. She had a slap-dash style of cooking that was based more on intuition than on measurement, which I’ve always appreciated. While she cooked she would often tell me stories of her life in the Philippines before moving to the United States. I would hug my knees to my chest, and listen to every musical syllable she spoke while the smell of her cooking cocooned me. Today, I will be making a dish that she made often, pancit.

Pancit, which means “noodles” in Tagalog, is a very common dish in the Philippines. Noodles were introduced to the Filipinos by the Chinese, and in fact, the origin of the word “pancit” is “pian i sit,” a Hokkien phrase meaning, “convenient food.” The Chinese had it right, because this dish is incredibly quick and convenient to make.

Ingredients:
Bihon noodles (1 serving of an Excellent brand package)

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

1 can baby corn

1 can water chestnuts

1 egg

1 package of mushrooms (beech preferably)

2 thinly sliced Thai chilies

2 cups cubed pan seared chicken breast

1 cup diced green onion

1 cup matchstick carrots

Performance:
Begin by cooking the chicken in an oiled pan or wok over medium high heat until cooked thoroughly. Cut the chicken into cubes and return to pan/wok. Add the baby corn, water chestnuts, beech mushrooms, green onion, matchstick carrots, and chilies to the pan. Stir briskly on medium heat. While stirring the vegetables and chicken, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, turn the burner completely off, and add the bihon noodles. The noodles will cook extremely quickly (I’m talking 10 seconds) and you will need to drain them immediately, then shock them with cold water to halt the cooking process. Add the noodles to the vegetables and chicken and combine. Add soy sauce to lightly bronze the color of the dish and flavor to your liking, then include a few drops of sesame seed oil. Now for the fun part- make a small space for a hole in the middle of the pan, and crack an egg into the hole. Quickly scramble the egg in the hole, then stir everything vigorously until combined. Devour immediately.