Filipino Pancit Recipe

There is a reason pancit shows up at almost every Filipino gathering, and it is the same reason I cook it at home so often. Filipino Pancit is a stir-fried noodle dish, and this version uses two noodles at once, soft rice bihon and chewier egg-based canton, tossed with pork, vegetables, and a savory soy and oyster sauce. The two noodles are the whole trick. The bihon drinks up the sauce and goes tender, the canton keeps its bite, and every plateful gives you a little of both. I will make Filipino Pancit on a plain Tuesday and be just as happy setting it in the middle of the table when friends come over.

People new to Filipino food email me all the time asking how they are supposed to eat pancit, and I always tell them the truth about how I do it at home. I put pandesal on the side, and half the time I fold the noodles right into the soft bread and eat it like a sandwich. Try it once before you decide it is strange.

If there is one thing to keep your eye on, it is the liquid. You want just enough sauce for the noodles to drink it all in, not swim in it. Get that part right and the rest takes care of itself: the pork comes out tender, the vegetables keep a little snap, and the noodles turn soft without ever going to mush.

What is Filipino Pancit

Filipino Pancit is really a whole family of noodle dishes, brought over by Chinese traders centuries ago and made Filipino over time with whatever was on hand. Even the name tells the story. Pancit comes from a Hokkien phrase for food that is quick and easy to cook, which is exactly what it was.

Back in the Spanish era, pancit was basically the first fast food in the country. Chinese vendors called panciteros cooked it for the factory workers who had no time to make lunch, and those workers carried it home for dinner too. The little roadside stalls those vendors ran, the panciterias, are where a lot of Filipinos first sat down to a meal someone else cooked. Centuries later, pancit is still the dish that shows up whenever there is something to celebrate.

There are so many kinds now, one region to the next. There is the saucy Pancit Palabok under its golden shrimp sauce, the seafood-loaded Pancit Malabon, even a Pancit Molo that is really a wonton soup. This bihon and canton one is the homey, everyday kind, the pancit that lands on the table on a normal night and at the big handaan just the same.

Ingredients

Nothing here is hard to track down. It is mostly noodles and vegetables, with pork and a few things from the pantry doing the seasoning.

• Rice noodles – The thin rice noodles (bihon) that turn almost clear when they cook. Soak them 10 to 12 minutes until they are bendy, so they do not snap on you in the pan.
• Egg noodles – The flour-and-egg noodles (Canton) with real chew. They are sturdier than bihon, so they go in dry and can take the heat. No canton in the cupboard? Check the substitutions below.
• Pork belly – Sliced thin so it cooks fast and leaves a little of its fat in the sauce, which is where a lot of the flavor hides. A leaner cut is fine, you just give up some of that richness.
• Carrots – Cut thin so they soften in their short time in the pan but hang on to a bit of bite.
• Cabbage – Chopped small so it folds into the noodles instead of sitting on top in big pieces.
• Onion and garlic – Where the whole thing starts. Mince the garlic fine so it melts into the oil and flavors everything from the first minute.
• Parsley – Chopped and tossed in near the end, mostly for a little color and freshness.
• Chicken Cube – One cube and the sauce tastes fuller and rounder, like it simmered longer than it did. Any chicken cube will do.
• Soy sauce and oyster sauce – The two that make the sauce. Soy for the salt and savor, oyster sauce for that thicker, slightly sweet coat.
• Fish sauce and ground black pepper – Both go in right at the end. A small splash of fish sauce and the whole thing tastes more alive. Do not worry, it will not taste fishy.
• Cooking oil and water – Oil to saute, water to make the sauce and cook the noodles.

Both noodles sit dried in bundles in the Asian aisle, usually right next to each other. If you can only track down one, do not sweat it. All bihon gives you a softer plate, all canton a heartier one, and both are still very much pancit.

How This Pancit Stands Out

Most pancit recipes pick one noodle and call it a day. I like using both, because you get soft and chewy in the same forkful, and honestly it just feels more generous, more like the pancit you get at a party. The sauce stays simple on purpose, just soy, oyster sauce, and that one chicken cube, so nothing gets in the way of the pork and vegetables. When I want to go all out for a big celebration I will make a seafood Pancit Malabon with shrimp and smoked fish, but for feeding my family on a regular day, this is the one I reach for.

Here is how Filipino Pancit comes together, start to finish in about 40 minutes, all in one pan.

1. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat, then saute the garlic and onion until soft and fragrant.
2. Add the sliced pork belly and cook, stirring now and then, until it turns light brown.

Give the pork a few minutes to color before the liquid goes in. That little bit of browning is what makes the sauce taste like something.

1. Pour in the soy sauce, add the oyster sauce and water, and bring it up to a boil.
2. Cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pork is fork-tender. Add a splash of water if it starts looking dry.

Do not rush this part. The pork needs the full simmer to go tender, and the sauce only gets better while it waits.

1. Drop in the Maggi cube and let it melt into the sauce.
2. Add the carrots and cabbage, stir, and cook for about a minute, just enough to take the raw edge off.

Keep the vegetables barely cooked here. They will soften more once the noodles go in, so a minute now leaves them bright and a little crisp at the end.

1. Add the soaked bihon and the canton, pressing them down into the sauce.
2. Cook, tossing gently, until the noodles soften and soak up most of the sauce.
3. Stir in the parsley, then season with black pepper and a splash of fish sauce.
4. Cover and let it go 3 more minutes, Turn-off the heat and transfer it onto a serving plate.

Lift and fold with tongs instead of stirring hard, so the long noodles stay long and do not snap. Serve it hot, while everyone is still hovering around the stove.

What to Serve

Pancit is good on its own, but here is how we actually eat it at home.

• Calamansi – A good squeeze right before the first bite. That little hit of sour is what makes pancit taste right to me. Lemon or lime if you have no calamansi.
• Toyomansi – Soy sauce and calamansi in a little dish on the side, for dipping or drizzling. Once you have it this way, it is hard to go back.
• Fried egg – I love one cooked over easy, laid right on top, so the runny yolk runs down into the noodles.
• Lumpia – Crispy spring rolls and pancit belong together at any party, no question.
• Pandesal – Soft rolls on the side, or wrapped around a forkful of noodles for that pancit sandwich I keep telling everyone about.

Storage

Filipino Pancit is always best straight from the wok, but leftovers are no tragedy either. Here is how to keep them.

• Refrigerator: Pop it in an airtight container and it keeps for about 3 days. The noodles tighten up in the cold, so they will want a little water when you warm them back up.
• Freezer: You can freeze it for up to 2 months if you have to, though I will be honest with you, the noodles and cabbage come out softer than fresh. Let it cool all the way first, then seal it up tight. I only do this when I have made way too much.
• Reheating: Warm it in a pan over medium with a splash of water to wake the noodles back up. The microwave works too, covered and in short bursts, with a stir in between.

More Pancit Recipes

If this got you into pancit, there is a whole world of it waiting for you.

• Pancit Bihon Guisado – The everyday bihon version, rice noodles sauteed with pork and vegetables. If pancit has a default, this is it.
• Pancit Sotanghon – Built on clear glass noodles, lighter and slippery-smooth, the one I reach for when I want something a little gentler.
• Lomi – Thick fresh egg noodles in a rich, gravy-like broth, Batangas style. A bowl of this on a rainy day is hard to beat.
• Pancit Habhab – The Lucban classic, served on a banana leaf and eaten with no fork at all, straight to the mouth.
• Bam-i – The Cebuano way, canton and sotanghon together in one pan. Best of both worlds.
• 30 Ways to Make Pancit – When you are ready to go down the rabbit hole, here is the whole spread.

• Canton noodles – Any wheat or egg noodle steps in fine, chow mein or fresh miki, whatever you find. Or skip it and go all bihon.
• Bihon noodles – Sotanghon works in its place, a little smoother and more slippery, still lovely.
• Pork belly – Chicken, pork shoulder, or a mix, all good. Leftover rotisserie chicken is my lazy-day shortcut.
• Oyster sauce – A vegetarian mushroom stir-fry sauce is the closest swap. In a real pinch, extra soy sauce with a pinch of sugar, though you lose some of that richness.
• Cabbage – Napa or bok choy both work, and a bag of coleslaw mix saves you the knife work.

This is the pancit I make more than any other, the one my family never gets tired of. Cook it with whatever protein and vegetables make you happy, squeeze some calamansi over the top, and enjoy it while it is still hot.