Filipino recipe

Seafood Pancit Bihon

Name: Seafood Pancit Bihon
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 to 5 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 454 g Super Q Golden Bihon (one 16 oz pack); 250 g shrimp, peeled, heads and shells kept for the stock; 200 g squid, cleaned and sliced into rings; 250 g mussels, scrubbed; 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 medium onion, sliced; 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks; ¼ small cabbage, shredded; 2 liters water, for the shrimp stock; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp cooking oil; Ground pepper, to taste; Spring onions and calamansi wedges, to serve

Shrimp, squid and mussels over golden bihon. The pancit for Lenten Fridays, no pork needed.

Pancit bihon with shrimp, squid and mussels, made with one 454 g pack of Super Q Golden Bihon and a stock made from the shrimp heads. The pancit for Lent.

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Prep: 20 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 45 min
Serves: 4 to 5 servings

A pack of Super Q Golden Bihon beside a plate of bihon with shrimp, mussels, squid and mushrooms

Seafood pancit bihon is what goes on the table when the family keeps Lenten Fridays, and whenever there is good seafood at the market. This version uses one 454 g (16 oz) pack of Super Q Golden Bihon, the size sold in many Filipino stores abroad.

The flavour comes from the stock. Simmer the shrimp heads and shells instead of throwing them away, and the bihon drinks all of it.

Ingredients

454 g Super Q Golden Bihon (one 16 oz pack)
250 g shrimp, peeled, heads and shells kept for the stock
200 g squid, cleaned and sliced into rings
250 g mussels, scrubbed
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
¼ small cabbage, shredded
2 liters water, for the shrimp stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp cooking oil
Ground pepper, to taste
Spring onions and calamansi wedges, to serve

Instructions

1
Make the shrimp stock
Simmer the shrimp heads and shells in the water for about 15 minutes, pressing the heads to release their flavour. Strain and keep about 1.8 liters of stock: that is the Super Q ratio of 1 liter for every 250 g of Golden Bihon.
2
Cook the seafood
Heat the oil and sauté the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the mussels, cover and cook until they open, discarding any that stay closed. Add the squid and shrimp and cook just until done, then lift all the seafood out.
3
Cook the vegetables
Add the carrot and mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry for two minutes, then add the cabbage and toss briefly. Set the vegetables aside.
4
Build the sauce
Pour the shrimp stock into the pan, add the soy sauce and fish sauce, season with pepper and bring to a boil. Taste it now; the noodles will take on this flavour.
5
Add the bihon
Add the Super Q Golden Bihon straight from the pack, with no soaking. Let it boil for 4 minutes before you start loosening the strands, then fold with tongs until the stock is absorbed.
6
Finish
Fold the vegetables through, then arrange the shrimp, squid and mussels on top so every plate shows the seafood. Serve with spring onions and calamansi.

Tips

The shrimp heads are most of the flavour. Never throw them away when you are making seafood pancit.

Add the seafood back only at the end. Seafood cooked twice turns rubbery.

Cooking it for someone you love

Cooking for a lola who keeps Lenten Fridays? This is the pancit she can share with everyone else, with no pork on the plate.

Selling it: seafood pancit pang-negosyo

Seafood pancit sells as a Lenten special. Put it on the menu every Friday of Lent and post it early in the week, so customers can order ahead.

Arrange the shrimp and mussels on top of every order. Customers pay for the seafood they can see.
Keep shrimp heads from your other dishes in the freezer. They become the stock that makes this pancit taste expensive.

Buying noodles in bulk for your business? See wholesale and distributor orders.