Pancit Guisado

I wanted to make use of some ingredients I had lingering around in the fridge to see what I can come up with–cabbage, frozen, organic peas, left over Honey Baked Ham, button mushrooms, and some chicken stock…

Minus being timed, I was feeling much like a contestant on Chopped, a cooking challenge show on Food Network.  I did a play on some leftover ingredients, alongside two different types of noodles I also had readily available  in the pantry.  Thus, what I have for you is a Filipino dish called Pancit Guisado (a blend of two noodles –flour sticks canton and rice sticks bihon noodles.)

Pancit or pansit is the term for noodles in Filipino cuisine. Noodles were introduced into the Philippines by the Chinese and have since been adopted into local cuisine. The term pancit  derived from the Hokkien pian i sit (Chinese: 便ê食; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: piān-ê-si̍t or Chinese: 便食; pinyin: biàn shí) which literally means “convenient food.”[1] Different kinds of noodles can be found in Filipino supermarkets which can then be cooked at home.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 package rice sticks (pancit bihon)
  • 1 package flour sticks (pancit canton)
  • 2 cups left over Honey Baked Ham (or similar) cut into thin slices
  • 1 small cabbage, chopped
  • 2 small cans of button mushrooms, liquid drained (or you can use any type of fresh mushrooms, chopped)
  • 1/3 cup organic peas
  • 1 medium-sized red onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 4 cups organic chicken stock
  • Fresh ground black pepper to taste

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 medium carrots, Julienne
  • 1 stalk celery, finely chopped

OPTIONAL GARNISH/DRIZZLE:

  • Freshly chopped green onions
  • Hard boiled eggs, cut into wedges
  • Lemon or Calamansi drizzle, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pan, heat the oil, then sauté the garlic and onion.

2. Add the slices of ham and cook for about five minutes.

3. Add the button mushrooms, peas, fresh black ground pepper, two teaspoons soy sauce; then mix together.

4.  Add the cabbage and cook for another two minutes.  Set aside.

5. Meanwhile, in a separate large pan add-in the chicken stock, then boil.

6. Put-in the pancit bihon and pancit canton until the liquid has been absorbed by the noodles (but not dried out).  Set aside.

7. In a large serving platter, place the noodles first; then top with the remaining ingredients.

8.  Garnish with green onions, hard-boiled egg wedges, and drizzle with lemon, if desired.  Serve warm.  Enjoy!