Vegetable pancit (pancit bihon)
The Filipino party noodle: thin rice noodles that soak up a savory soy broth, tossed with cabbage, carrots, celery and snow peas and finished with a squeeze of lemon.
- 35 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.90 a serving
- 340 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 oz rice noodles, thin vermicelli
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 3 cups green cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup snow peas
- 1½ cups vegetable broth
- 3 stalks green onions, sliced
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 340 calories, 7 g protein, 62 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $1.90 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No snow peas? Sugar snap peas work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Soak the noodles in warm water 5 minutes, until just bendy. .
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Bihon only needs a short soak because it finishes cooking in the broth.Heat the oil in your largest over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes, until soft and .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Add the carrots and celery and 2 minutes, then the cabbage and snow peas for 2 minutes more, until . Scoop half the vegetables onto a plate.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Pour in the broth, soy sauce and pepper and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Add the noodles and with tongs 3 to 4 minutes, until they’ve soaked up the broth and are tender.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: If the pan dries out before the noodles are soft, add a splash of water.the saved vegetables back in with the green onions and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: In the Philippines pancit comes with calamansi, a tiny citrus. Lemon is the closest easy swap.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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