Pancit Bihon

I used to work in a small private high school and every May I would look forward to Staff Appreciation Week. For one whole week, parents provided a lunch buffet for all the teachers and staff. The dish that I looked forward to each year was Pancit Bihon. It is a Filipino dish made with rice noodles, chicken, some kind of sausage and veggies. It’s savory, yet light and on Asian food day, I filled my plate knowing that I would not get it again for another year. You can imagine my sadness when after four years, the student, now a senior was about to graduate. I begged her mother for the recipe and she gave it to me! (She is one of those amazing cooks who never gives away her secrets). She even gave me a package of rice noodles and the Chinese sausage. She’s such a sweet lady.

So I made it a few times…until I ran out of sausage. But just last week I discovered an Asian food market near my house. Sure enough, they had the Chinese style sausage and rice noodles.

INGREDIENTS:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 32oz carton chicken broth

12oz. rice noodles

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 stalks celery, sliced on diagonal

1/2 head cabbage

2 carrots, sliced

Pancit Bihon is so simple to make. Start off by poaching the chicken breast in chicken broth for about 12-15 minutes in a medium sauce pan. Then remove the chicken, remove the pan from the heat, add soy sauce and soak the rice noodles for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile cut the sausage lengthwise and remove the casing. Then slice into long strips and cut down to 1/2 inch pieces. Microwave sausage for 45 seconds. Use a fork to shred the chicken breast.

In a large and deep skillet saute garlic and onion in oil over med heat for several minutes or until onion is translucent. Add cabbage, carrots & celery and saute until just tender (To be completely honest, I cheated and used bagged cole slaw mix that had cabbage and carrots and was on sale for a dollar). Be sure not to let the veggies overcook – you want them to hold onto a little bit of crunch.

Add the shredded chicken and sausage to the vegetables. After the noodles have softened, add them to the skillet and toss together. That’s it! You’re done!

This can be served as a main course or a side dish. It’s great for a pot luck too.