Sep 13: Lumpia and Pancit (Part 2)

This is a continuation from yesterday’s post (Lumpia and Pancit)

As I mentioned, my close friends growing up were all Filipino. Eventually, as we grew up, a few friends moved away (as I did too), married and became civilized, but one dude I kept in touch with – Prestone (his nickname) stayed local. We would hangout when I was in town.

I asked him (he deferred to his wife) how pancit was made. The following is what I was shown. His wife didn’t have a written recipe and ingredients weren’t measured out. She made pancit, as anyone who’s made a recipe many times over, based upon a little of this and that.

I was familiar with many of the ingredients from my family’s cooking.

My version of pancit uses the ingredients as shown to me. The quantities are based upon my preference – more veg, less meat.

The noodles – Mung Bean Vermicelli noodles. (Recipe found on the internet uses rice noodles).

Soak in cool water until soft and pliable.


My Version of Pancit
The Fixins’
1.5 C Cabbage, sliced thin
1.5 C Nappa Cabbage, sliced thin
1 Rib Celery, coarse chop
1 Carrot, shredded
½ Chicken Breast, sliced thin
1 Green Onion, coarse chop
2 Cloves Garlic, pressed
1 C Chicken Broth
1 T Soy Sauce (actually to your own taste)

The vegetables


The chicken was mixed with the green onions, garlic and about 1 t (teaspoon) of soy sauce and allowed to marinade for a few minutes.


Saute the chicken. You’re not really trying to brown the meat.


When the chicken is nearly done, I added the vegetables, noodles and broth. (This is where I goofed on the recipe. I should have added the veg and some broth first to precook the veg with the lid on. The noodles are added and cooked with the lid off)


The completed pancit served with lemon wedges.


The pancit was very flavorful. The garlic, green onions and celery were reminiscent to a stir-fry. I really didn’t have to add soy sauce since the broth added sodium and flavor.

However, the noodles did absorb a lot more liquid and softened more than I wanted. I should have allowed the veg to cook first.

Overall, the lumpia and pancit were very flavorful. A few missteps on my part, but that’s straight forward to fix.




Recipes found on the Internet:
Lumpia Eight (8) recipes found on Allrecipes.com
Pancit Five (5) recipes found on Allrecipes.com