The second recipe I’m sharing with you is pancit bihon, one of the three variants of pancit mentioned in Boracay Vows.

• In Chapter Three, Blake included pancit bihon among his favorite Filipino dishes along with adobo and lechon.
• In Chapter Seventeen, Krista ordered pancit canton at the restaurant.
• In the Epilogue, Krista’s mom cooked pancit Malabon for her and Blake.

Usually stir-fried, pancit or pansit is a noodle dish the Filipinos adapted from the Chinese. It can be eaten for lunch, snack, or dinner and is a staple during fiestas and especially during birthday celebrations to accompany the wish for long life.

Again, there are as many ways to cook pancit bihon as there are islands in the Philippines. This is my version.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. cooking oil
• minced garlic (from 2 cloves to a whole head)
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 cup boiled pork (or chicken, and/or shrimp), sliced
• 1 small cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, strips
• 2 tbsps. soy sauce (add more for desired taste and color)
• 1 1/2 c. broth (I use chicken)
• 1 bunch Chinese leeks (or green beans)
• 1 bundle first class bihon (rice noodles)
• 1 tsp salt
• (Optional) 2 pcs chorizo de bilbao or lap cheong (Chinese sausage)
• spring onion, chopped
• calamansi (or lime/lemon)

Instructions:

1. Saute garlic in cooking oil, add onion, pork, carrots, and cabbage. Season with soy sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add broth and simmer, add the leeks (or green beans). If using shrimp, add here.
3. When the vegetables are cooked, mix in softened bihon noodles and season with salt.
4. Garnish with chorizo and spring onions. Serve with calamansi.

Boracay Vows is available in ebooks from all your favorite etailers and in paperback from Amazon. An autographed copy can be ordered on this website.