If there's one thing that I regret in life, it's my cooking skills. My father is good at cooking, my mother isn't so growing up, I felt like I am also not good at it. I burnt my onions and garlic while sauteeing and I felt like a loser.
I wished I had stayed in the kitchen while younger when I had a lot of time in my hands, learned how my grandma cooks my favorite "inun onan sa dahon sa saging" as well as watched my father cook. Today, I try to keep up and would always watch him cook. He is now a senior so he rarely cooks.
But we have some helpers too at home who teach me how to cook when they are free. During a birthday party, we had last February, Nang Linda taught me how to cook Pancit Bihon.
Pancit Bihon is not a Filipino dish, I believe it has originated from China and has been embraced by Filipinos. There are a lot of pancit recipes but one that is always present in our home is pancit bihon and we always have that during celebrations.
So, let me share with you how Nang Linda makes her Pancit Bihon.
First, the ingredients. We have Bihon of course, carrots, cabbage, baguio beans, shrimp, pork, chicken, onions, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper.
As part of the preparation process, the bihon has to be soaked in water to soften it. We also had to cut them in pieces so we won't have long bihon threads later when eating.
Now the cooking begins, sautee the garlic and onions in oil. Then add the pork, I have to continue mixing them up to make sure the pork gets well cooked.
Then we add the shrimp and the chicken strips once the pork is good.
My favorite meat in a Pancit Bihon is shrimp, and I like the pork to have a little bit of fat in it too! It's just better when it has that.
Then Nang Linda poured soy sauce into the pan together with pepper when all the meat has been cooked. This is for flavoring. She told me she can't give an exact measurement though because she would usually estimate the amount. I am not good at estimating things but she encouraged me that I will be able to do that once I start cooking. I laughed at her instructions. Perhaps, I will learn to estimate but for now, I have to know the exact measurements, I don't want to ruin the food!
Simmer simmer... The flavor is now getting into the meat!
Then the vegetables this time, carrots and Baguio beans are put into the pan and let cook.
As soon as the vegetables are cooked, the Bihon can get into the pan as well.
It's okay if the Bihon still looked stiff, mixing it with the sauce will soften it even more. Just continue mixing them up.
It is best to cook this in a huge wok to ensure that there will be no spilling of ingredients and that the mixture will be fully submerged into the sauce.
The Bihon has now absorbed the sauce, it will not take long before the dish is done! Just continue mixing and incorporating the ingredients.
After a few minutes, add the cabbage to the mixture, continue mixing, and done! That's our end product! Pancit Bihon ala Nang Linda!