Pancit Bihon recipe is a delicious Filipino noodle dish that is easy to make with pork, shrimp or chicken and a variety of chopped vegetables. It is well loved by Filipinos and foreigners alike. Bihon also called cornstarch sticks is a type of noodle made of cornstarch. Pancit Bihon is popular among my foreigner friends and when I make it, I use chicken breast instead of pork and shrimp.
It is served as a snack or as a main dish. Filipinos love to eat Pancit Bihon with plain white rice or rice cake (puto). In the past, a boyfriend of mine was wondering why I ate noodles with rice just like I ate spaghetti with rice. Oh well…
Lemon or calamansi with fish sauce is usually serve with this noodle dish. Some people don’t bother adding this sauce with their pancit bihon, but to me, it is a must as it adds more flavor. The only caveat though, I end up eating more rice. Not good for my waistline!
During Filipino gatherings especially a birthday party, pancit bihon is always part of the spread. It is a superstitious belief among Filipinos that long noodles signify a healthy long life. My mom always prepared any type of noodle dish on our birthdays and it was always a hit with everyone.
Tips in Cooking Pancit
Depending on the region, it is slightly cook a different way. When I was going to school, my roommate made this with pork liver. It was good, but I end up picking out all the liver and ate the rest. Aside from pork, shrimp or chicken, you can also use Chinese sausage for meat. If you don’t care for any meat, it will work as well.
During my early days of cooking, I used soy sauce solely to make this dish. Now, I have incorporated fish sauce and less soy sauce so noodles are lighter in color. Fish sauce adds a lot of flavor to any dish.
This dish will work well with other vegetables like broccoli and cabbage. Under cook vegetables when sauteing. It will continue to cook when broth and noodles are added. Keep vegetables crisp and not soggy.
Pancit Bihon or any type of noodles are served on birthdays as Filipinos superstitious belief that long noodles signifies a healthy long life.
Did you know that some leftover vegetable dish can be use to make pancit. When I have leftover Ginisang Kinchay at Tokwa, I add broth and noodles. I just made another scrumptious meal with less time spent in the kitchen.
For broth, use chicken broth or shrimp stock. Don’t discard the shrimp head and peel and make your own shrimp stock. Check out my post on how to make shrimp stock.
Add just enough broth or you will end up with a soupy noodle dish. Once you add the noodles, it will absorb the broth in about 3 minutes. The noodles are stiff at first. Use a kitchen utensil to fully submerge it in the broth. However, it can happen when you run out of broth and noodles are a bit underdone, add a little broth until noodles are cooked.
Another way to soften noodles is submerging it in cold water while sauteing the ingredients. Drain water before adding it. If cooking with vegetables only, I highly suggest to use broth or shrimp stock.
Pancit Bihon Recipe and Video
I love this dish so much and when I make it, my mom would always comment that it seems like I’m feeding the whole army. I don’t mind having it everyday and I find it more flavorful after a day.
Watch my video to see how easy and simple to cook Pancit Bihon. Enjoy! Magluto na tayo.
Pancit Bihon Guisado is a popular Filipino noodle dish made with pork, shrimp or chicken, thin translucent noodles called bihon and an assortment of colorful vegetables.
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic ,minced
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/2 pound ground pork or sliced pork
- 1/2 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 15 - 20 pieces green beans sliced on a bias
- 1 medium carrot sliced thinly on a bias and cut in half
- 6 cups shrimp broth (can be pork or chicken broth)
- 8 1/2 ounces bihon noodles
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 cups cabbage shredded
- 2 big stalks green onions chopped
- calamansi or lemon cut into wedges
- salt or fish sauce to taste
In a wok or a large skillet, add oil over medium heat.
Saute onion for 2 minutes
Add garlic and cook till golden brown.
Add fish sauce and pork.
Cook pork till pale brown.
Toss-in shrimp and cook till pink.
Saute green beans and cook for 1 minute.
Toss-in carrots and cook for 1 minute.
Pour broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low.
Stir-in soy sauce.
Slowly add bihon noodles, submerging it into the broth. In a few minutes, it will soften and easier to mix with other ingredients.
While noodles are cooking, broth will be reduced until fully absorbed.
Season with salt or fish sauce.
Turn off heat. Serve hot with calamansi or lemon, ground pepper and fish sauce (patis) on the side.
- You can use pork, chicken, Chinese sausage or shrimp.
- Use chicken broth or shrimp stock to cook noodles. Make shrimp stock with the shrimp head and peel. Check my post "How to Make Shrimp Stock".
- You can also soak noodles in water till softened. Put in a coriander to drain.
- Other vegetables can be used with this noodle dish. In fact, when I have leftover Ginisang Tokwa with Kinchay, I add broth and noodles and that's my other version of pancit. It is delicious.
- Under cook all the vegetables since it will continue to cook when noddles is cooking. Keep veggies crisp.
This recipe was originally posted on January 29, 2018 and updated. 
Leave a Reply