Recently Laura, a good friend and a cousin by fortunate luck, commented on my Cornmeal Fried Fish recipe. She had enjoyed that dish in the past and requested I share my Easy Filipino Pancit recipe. For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a noodle dish with vegetables and meat. There are many versions of pancit but over the years my husband’s family has come to love my recipe. It is often requested at social gatherings. Over the years I have experimented and found quicker and easier ways of making it. Today I dedicate my article to Laura in remembrance of the great times we have shared and the many more to come.
Easy Filipino Pancit
Ingredients
1 Package of Dried Rice Noodles (easily found in oriental markets or oriental aisle in most major grocery stores)
1 Chicken Breast or 2 Boneless Pork Chops (optional for you vegetarians or if you are serving a main meat dish but it does add a lot of flavor so always good to add)
½ Onion – diced
1 Stalk Celery – diced
½ Cabbage – sliced
1 Bag of Frozen Oriental Vegetable Medley (particularly one with broccoli, water chestnuts, snow peas, and carrots but can be anything you want)
1/4 to 1/2 Cup of Soy Sauce (use sparingly as too much is not always a good thing)
Garlic Powder (season to taste – meaning put as much as you would like)
Salt and Pepper (season to taste)
1 Can Chicken or Vegetable Broth (will add as needed – see below)
Vegetable Oil (will add as needed – see below)
Water (will add as needed – see below)
1-2 Lemons – sliced
Open the package of rice noodles and place in large bowl. Cover with room temperature water and set to side. Dice chicken breast or boneless pork chops and set to side. Dice and slice the onion, celery and cabbage and set to side. Cook the frozen vegetable medley for only a minute or two in the microwave to slightly thaw. Cut any large pieces into more bite size portions (for example if there is a huge piece of broccoli in the bag, cut it into 2 or 3 pieces). Now that all the chop work is done, pour about 1 tablespoon of vegetable into a large pot. Add diced meat. Cook over medium heat until almost done and then add the onion and celery. Cook for 2-3 minutes more and then add the cabbage and vegetable medley. Cook only a minute or two and then turn heat to low. Strain rice noodles and pour into the pot, stirring with meat and vegetable mixture. (Now the next parts are a little tricky because you have to stir often and find the optimum heat setting because you don’t want your noodles to burn but at the same time everything has to blend well together.) Add ¼ cup of soy sauce. Sprinkle the garlic powder and black pepper. Mix it all together. Add about ½ can of chicken broth as well. I like to cover and let everything simmer together. You will probably have your stove at a medium flame about now. Make sure you keep checking and keep stirring. Taste it every now and then and add more soy sauce and garlic powder to your liking but do very little at a time because it can get too salty fast. Noodles should be firm but soft. If they are too hard or crunchy when you sample it, then add more chicken broth or water. When you get the taste and texture to your liking, stir in little vegetable oil (just enough to lightly coat everything but not enough to notice). This keeps noodles from sticking. You can salt as well but like I mentioned, please be careful. Then I usually turn off heat, cover, and walk away for ten minutes to let the noodle cook even more but you can eat right away if you can’t resist. We always squirt with a little lemon and it enhances the dish even more!
Note: My instructions are pretty lengthy but this actually cooks pretty fast. I throw a lot of cautions because I have burnt this dish before and you have to throw the whole thing out. It is just like when you burn rice or popcorn. It ruins the whole batch. But if you can take the few minutes to stand in front of the stove, you will end up with a noodle dish you and your family will love forever! And the more often you make pancit, the easier it gets.
Another note: Like I mentioned, you can use almost any vegetables you like. I know of people who add squash or green beans or such. Every vegetable I have listed is optional as well. If you don’t like broccoli, don’t use it. If you don’t want to cut up anything and want to use two types of frozen vegetable medleys that cover your likes, go for it. It is your dish, make it your own. And if you want to use all fresh, please do. It takes more time to chop everything but it adds beautiful flavors. This is just my quick and easy version. When I really want to impress, I use fresh but to tell you the truth no one has commented it tasted better one way or the other.
Final note: Some people like to use shrimp in lieu of chicken or pork. Again this may take a little prep more time depending on the condition of your shrimp (peeled vs. not-peeled or cooked vs. not-cooked) and it will change the flavor slightly but it is very good this way as well. Also shrimp cooks faster so it reduces the stove top time.
Ideas for sides:
White or Brown Steamed Rice
(Pancit can also be used as a side dish to a main meat or fish dish but it is up to you!)
Kainan na! (Let’s eat!)
