Pansit {kanton/bihon}, the College Student's Way
Ingredients
- 1/4 - 1/3 lb chicken
- 2 pieces garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 or 3 carrots, julienned
- 1 red capsicum, cubed
- 1 green capsicum, cubed
- 1/4 of a head of cabbage, shredded
- 1 pkg kanton/bihon noodles, usually 14 - 16 oz
- soya sauce for taste and for colour
- salt, pepper
- green onions, chopped, for garnish, optional
- 1 or 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced, for garnish, optional
- 1 or 2 pieces chorizo or Chinese sausage, sliced, optional
- 3-4 pieces of fish balls, sliced, optional
Instructions
Put the chicken in a pot, cover with water, season to taste with salt, if you wish, and boil until chicken is done. Reserve 2/3 to 3/4 cup of the water for later use. Let the chicken cool, then shred the chicken. If you are using bihon, boil some water, after the water comes to the boil, add the noodles, let sit in boiling water for 2-4 minutes, then remove, drain, rinse in cold water, set aside. Saute garlic, add the onions. Add the carrots, stir fry for around 2 minutes. Add the capsicum, stir fry for around 1 minute. Add the chicken. Flavour with salt and pepper, to your taste. Stir fry for around a minute or so. Add the cabbage. Stir fry for around a minute or so. If you are using pansit kanton, add it now, straight from the package. Follow immediately with the broth set aside earlier and flavour with soya sauce. If you are using pansit bihon, add it, the broth, and the soya sauce. Stir. If you are using the sausages and/or fish balls, add them now. Stir until everything is heated. That should be for about a minute or so. Remove to a serving plate, garnish with chopped green onion and sliced hard-boiled egg, if desired. (You might want the chopped green onion on the top, anyway, it adds flavour.) Serve as soon as possible. Once you get the basic recipe down, one can experiment with the ingredients and amounts. I even tried putting fresh coriander in here, with good results (not what one would usually do, but I had extra coriander that I had to use!). Note: The type of pansit you make is dependent upon the type of noodles you use. Pansit Kanton uses egg noodles. Pansit Bihon uses a rice noodle, Pansit Mami uses a thick noodle, which I want to say is flour-based, but don't quote me on that. Pansit Luglug uses a thick-ish noodle, although I think for this particular type of pansit, I think it's the special shrimp sauce that defines it more than the noodle. Pansit Molo is sort of like the Chinese Wonton soup. You may substitute whichever noodle you wish. These noodles should be readily available at any Oriental market. You really can put anything you want with this dish, it is very versatile. I generally like to combine a bit of meat and veggie with this dish, and one can generally use chicken or pork. I'll write the recipe using chicken.