Pancit Bihon is ultra-savory, tasty, and easy to make with rice noodles, vegetables, and some protein. I love to share a quick and simple way to cook my all-time favorite traditional Filipino noodle dish. This quick, delicious dish is suitable for any day of the week and for any occasion.
Pancit. Pancit bihon is a traditional Filipino noodle dish that is made of rice noodles or rice vermicelli. Pancit is one of the all-time favorite recipes of so many Filipinos, including myself, because of its chewy noodles, simplicity, and unique flavor. It is eaten paired with rice, pandesal, or adobo.
Pancit bihon is also known as birthday noodles since it is always present during birthdays. Filipino believes it brings a stroke of good luck and long life to the birthday celebrant. Pancit dishes are commonly served during gatherings, events festivals, and religious activities, due to the ease in which they can be cooked in big batches and made as a crowd-pleaser.
There are numerous types of pancit, often named based on the noodles used, method of cooking, place of origin, or the ingredients. Most pancit dishes are served with calamansi or lemon for some tangy and sour taste, but this is optional.
The chewy rice noodles double their size when cooked in liquid. Adding in mixed vegetables such as carrots, bell pepper, and cabbage will make it even healthier. We typically add meat or seafood as protein too.
Why You Will Love This
- A noodle dish that only needs one pan! This pancit bihon recipe makes it incredibly easy to get a restaurant-quality dish right in your own kitchen, but it also requires very little clean-up, making it a great go-to on busy evenings.
- It’s loaded with fresh veggies! If you’re looking to sneak more vegetables into your family’s diet, try these noodles. You can customize the veggies to suit your family’s taste and feel good about what you’re feeding them.
- Pancit Bihon is a budget-friendly dish that is perfect to bring to any party or potluck and can make ahead of time. I can chop all my vegetables the night before, then store them in the fridge and cook pancit the next morning.
- If you like this Pancit bihon, try my Cantonese Chow Mein, my Vegan Udon Noodles Stir-Fry, or my Beef Lumpia.
INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTION NOTES
- Cooking oil – Any neutral cooking oil such as avocado oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil.
- Pork – I use pork shoulder that is sliced thinly or about 1 inch long and 1/4 wide. You can use other types of meat, such as beef or chicken, and seafood, like shrimp or squid, or tofu for vegetarians.
- Pancit Bihon – Also known as vermicelli rice noodles. You can easily find these at Asian grocery stores or Internationa Supermarket if you live Abroad.
- Onion and Garlic – For aromatics and flavors.
- Vegetables – I am using bell pepper (any color is perfect), cabbage, and carrot. Slicing carrots thinly, similar to match sticks, are great. The more variety, the better and more vibrant our dish will become.
- Broth or water – To cook the rice noodles, we need liquid. If you pre-soak your rice noodles, you only need 2-3 cups to continue cooking them in heat.
- Soy Sauce and Oyster Sauce – Delicious seasonings that add color and more flavor.
- Salt and Black Pepper – To taste accordingly.
- Lemon or Calamansi – Calamansi is authentic to serve pancit with. But lemon or lime is just fine.
- Green Onions – For garnish (optional but highly recommended) You can also garnish pancit bihon with spring onions, scallions, or cilantro.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic and onion until translucent. Make sure you can smell the aroma of garlic and onion, for about 3 minutes.
- Add in your pork and cook on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or until it is light golden brown.
- Stir fry your cabbage, carrots, and bell pepper for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour soy sauce and oyster sauce, and water or broth and mix well to combine. Submerge the bihon or rice noodles. Cover the wok with a lid and turn to medium heat to cook the rice noodles until they soften. Stirring occasionally to make sure everything is well combined and water has been absorbed. Adjust your salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with green onion and drizzle lemon juice on top. Serve and enjoy!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Pancit can be eaten hot or cold. It is delicious, tasty, and flavorful hot, cold, or even at room temperature.
Pancit is a dish that has most of its calories coming from carbohydrates, proteins, and fiber so it can actually be a great meal to eat when dieting. It is filling and satisfying. Especially when made at home, pancit can be customized to be very optimal for weight maintenance and a healthy diet. I stopped labeling food and eat everything moderately in a balanced diet.
Adding too much liquid makes it soggy. If you already soaked your noodles in water before cooking, you don’t need too much liquid. Just about 2-3 cups of liquid to continue cooking this dish is perfect. Don’t worry if this happens; cook your noodles for a few more minutes until the liquid evaporates completely.
Yes. If you are a vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based eater, I recommend tofu as a meat substitute, or you can totally skip it. Check out this vegan pancit recipe.
Cooking Tips
- Stir-fry your vegetables on high heat for 2 minutes to make sure they retain their texture and color. Over-cooking them makes their texture soggy.
- Soaking the rice noodles for 10 minutes or longer will shorten the cooking time since they will come out soft and chewy from soaking them. Be sure to adjust the water while cooking them to avoid soggy mess.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerator: This pancit bihon recipe makes the BEST leftovers! Once it is cooled completely, store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
- Reheating: Reheat noodles in a skillet over medium heat on the stovetop. Add a splash of water to loosen up the noodles a bit, and season to taste with salt and pepper before serving. If using the microwave, cover it with a towel to make sure it will not dry out and microwave for 30 seconds or a minute.
More Recipes You Might Like
Pancit Bihon Recipe (quick and easy)
Equipment
- 1 Wok or skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced thin
- 1/2 pound pork shoulder sliced thinly sliced in bite size
- 8 ounces rice noodles (pancit bihon)
- 1/2 large green cabbage (chopped thinly) chopped thin
- 1 large carrot sliced thin
- 1/2 large bell pepper sliced thin
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce regular
- 6 cups water or chicken broth more or less if needed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 slices calamansi or lemon
- 1/2 cup green onion for garnish chopped
Instructions
- Heat cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic and onion until translucent.
- Add in your pork and cook in medium to high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until it turn golden brown.
- Stir fry your cabbage, carrots and bell pepper for 2-3 minutes in high heat.
- Pour soy sauce and oyster sauce and water or broth and submerge rice noodles in. Cover the wok and turn to medium heat to cook the rice noodles until it absorbed most of the water.
- Stir occasionally to make sure everything is well combined, and the noodles are softened. Add more broth (or water) if the dish is dry before the noodles are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste accordingly. Garnish with green onion with drizzle lemon juice on the side. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- The rice noodles or bihon will double in size but double up the recipe if feeding a big crowd or more than 6 people.
- Customize your vegetables according to your taste. This is one of my favorite way to clean the fridge and add all the veggies I got.
- Soaking the rice noodles for 10 minutes or longer will shorten the cooking time since they will come out soft and chewy from soaking them.
Your recipe is so beautiful, colorful and delicious. I love making it for the parties and pot luck.
Thanks Jamm for dropping by and I am very happy to hear that you make this for different occasions.
I guarantee everyone who’s reading this that Pancit is so delicious and must be tried in your homes. You won’t regret trying this recipe. I tried it in our home, and I’m not regretting that I tried it. Everyone who tastes it likes the pancit. It is worthy for every occasion. This blog post by ma’am Jomelyn is extremely informative. I’m an avid reader of her blog because it is very detailed and worth trying. Simple, easy, healthy, and delicious!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! God bless.
This is my all time favorite. It is yummy with lots of flavor.
Making this today for the second time. We love it at home.
I made it for party last week. We all love it. The noodles are amazing with lots of veggies.