This is my mother's delicious recipe. To me, Pancit is a healthier version of Chinese Lo Mein. Don't get me wrong - I love Lo Mein, but Pancit doesn't use as much sodium like Lo Mein does.

Pancit is a staple in Filipino cuisine. My favorite is Pancit Canton. If you have Filipino friends - you've probably had Pancit Bihon which has thinner noodles. The other kind I've had is Pancit Luglog which has thicker noodles that Canton. There are about 12 different kinds. If you want to read more about it, click here.

Ingredients:

½ whole chicken OR 6 pieces of boneless skinless chicken (white meat)
28 ounces of water OR chicken broth
24 ounces of Pancit Canton noodles (from your local Asian grocery)
½ a head of cabbage, 4 carrot sticks, 4 celery sticks, 1 medium onion, and 1 whole garlic - all finely chopped
½ extra virginia olive oil
½ soy sauce
1 tbsp of ground pepper

Prepare:

The day before, wash the chicken. Take the half of a whole chicken and place it underwater (about 28 ounces) OR take the boneless skinless chicken and place it in the chicken broth in a large pot and boil on medium heat for about 45 minutes or until fully cooked. Then, place in fridge overnight. The next day, take it out and scrap the fat that has solidified on the sides of the pot and if you can, on the chicken.

Take the chicken out of the pot but do not throw away the water OR the chicken broth - you'll use that later. Then, if using a half of a whole chicken - take out the white meat of the chicken and break into little pieces. If using boneless skinless chicken, just break into little pieces. Set aside.

Afterwards, finely chop all of your vegetables: carrots, celery, cabbage, onion, and garlic. Do not mix them together. Set aside seperately.

Cook:

In a large wok (which we don't have... weird, and we're Filipino!) or a really large pan, pour EVOO in wok/pan and set on medium heat.

Throw in garlic first. Cook until brown. Then throw in onions and mix well. Cook until brown, then throw in chicken. Let sit and let the flavors marry for 5 minutes. Stir ocassionally.

Throw in carrots and celery and mix well for 5 to 10 minutes. Throw in cabbage and again, let flavors marry so let sit for 5 minutes.

Pour water OR chicken broth that you set aside, pour soy sauce, and a tbsp of of ground pepper into the wok/pan. Let sit for another 5 minutes.

Set heat on low then place the noodles into the pan. Do not break up the noodles. Set heat back on medium/high heat. Mix gently until noodles are soft. (My mom uses the carrots as a guide - she makes sure they're soft before taking the pancit out of the wok/pan.)

Tada! Pancit Canton! Smiling This will serve 6-8 people!