For the fourth day of the Chinese dish week it will be something created outside of China but this dish definitely has its Chinese roots which is the case for a lot of South East Asian dishes. So for this post it will be a noodle dish called Pancit Bihon Guisado.
Pancit or Pansit is a Tagalog word for noodles; it was derived from the Hokkien phrase “pian i sit” which means “Something cooked fast”. Noodles were introduced to the Philippines by the Chinese similar to how they introduce it to the Thai, Malay, Singaporeans and other neighbouring countries. There are a lot of different types of Pancit or Noodles that is offered in Philippines and some of the popular ones are Bihon, Canton, Sotanghon, Palabok and Lomi, it is also common in Philippine restaurants to have this on their menus.
Now having that Chinese origin, it will definitely have a lot of stories and folklore behind it and one popular belief in the Philippines is that this dish should be served during Birthdays and New Year to live a long life as noodles in Chinese culture represents long life and good health, also if you will follow this belief don’t ever cut the noodles short before and while cooking are as it might reverse the effect.
Now for this recipe we will use bihon which is a very thin rice noodles, there are a lot of brands but be careful as some are of real bad quality and break or dissolve easily when cooked which is not good in terms of the belief mentioned above but more importantly the texture, you can usually test them by trying to break them on their packet, if it is brittle then it will be easier to break so choose the flexible ones.
I prefer bihon over sotanghon, though my family believes that sotanghon should be served during special occasions, I usually celebrate my birthday with bihon. 😀
What a fantastic meal – love the idea of all the flavours together.
🙂 Mandy
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I had my share of buying the not so good bihon and it was disaster after cooking. Turned out more of like fried rice then noodles.
We simply love noodles besides our fav of rice, so yes to this yummy recipe you have shared Raymund.
Oh my, that is making me hungry! I love the combination of vegetables — it looks like a fabulous one-dish meal.
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Oh my goodness that looks so delicious! I love all these Asian things you post.
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Wonderful, another winner!
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Love noodles!
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This is an example of me learning something new when I come to your blog. I never heard of this dish but that won’t stop me from trying it of course 🙂
Bro… Pang piesta sa pangasinan yan ha
I prefer bihon over sotanghon, though my family believes that sotanghon should be served during special occasions, I usually celebrate my birthday with bihon. 😀
This is always my favorite dish whenever my mom would cook up a feast for some important occasions. Might try this and make her taste it :>
That looks awesome! I love any kind of noodles! Bihon is awesome because they seem like they are lighter on the calories! Great recipe!
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I think I’m going to start referring to pasta as “something cooked fast,” from now on
This looks lovely and light, and you can’t go wrong with noodles!
pancit for long life indeed.. yay
Oh, look at that beautiful seafood-packed treat!!
Why do you tempt me so much? I love all things shrimp. This meal looks perfect!
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I love pancit in all its forms. Your bowl looks so full of goodness
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