Life's Ambrosia

Grandma’s Pancit

Recently I have been thinking about family traditions and recipes always come to mind. For just about every Filipino family out there someone has a recipe for Pancit, a stir-fried noodle dish with meat and vegetables. Since Pancit literally means noodles there are many different versions of this dish out there and no two families make it the same. I knew my dad knew the recipe so I gave him a call. Like many family recipes, this wasn’t written down, my dad just remembered that my grandma added a little of this and a little of that when she was making it. I jotted down the ingredients and instructions and set out to create it. The results were spot on and childhood memories flooded back. I love that about food.

For this Pancit recipe we use boneless pork chops, cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, green onion, egg and noodles. Traditionally you would use Pancit Canton noodles or rice noodles but my local grocery store didn’t have either of these, but they did have some Japanese udon noodles so I bought those and it really turned out great.

Grandma’s Pancit Recipe

Serves 4 Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20 min

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1 pound pork chops (about 4 chops), sliced into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 ( 8 ounce) package bean sprouts
1 (12 ounce) package Asian style noodles (can be Pancit canton, bean thread, rice noodles, udon noodles), cooked according to package directions
3 chopped green onions
kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a small 8 inch pan over medium heat, add egg and cook on one side until edges curl. Flip once to finish cooking. Once cooked, remove from pan. Roll and slice into thin strips. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large saute pan. Add pork and cook 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Once pork has browned. Add chicken stock and soy sauce. Whisk in corn starch. Cook 1 minute. Add cabbage, carrots and bean sprouts. Cook 3-5 minutes or until vegetables have softened.

Add noodles to pork and vegetable mixture. Toss to combine. Add egg and green onions. Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt. Serve.

Notes

Like I said, this may not be very traditional but it was my family's version and brought back some wonderful memories for me. Do you have any family recipes that have been passed through generations that bring back memories for you?

Leave a Comment Cancel Comment

leslie

August 10, 2009 at 4:11 pm

It was great……I love it it came out pretty good and it was the first time that I cook something different…..
thanks!!!!!

Reply
Deseree
August 11, 2009 at 3:55 pm
You’re welcome Leslie! It is good to hear that you liked it. It’s always fun to cook something different isn’t it? :)

_ts of [eatingclub] vancouver

June 11, 2009 at 9:55 pm

I was trying to pick which post to comment on, but they all look so pretty!!! How do you take such nice photos?! Anyway, I decided that if I were to comment, why not on PANCIT? =D Anyway, I’ve added your blog to my reader and looking forward to all your posts!

Mrs. L

March 31, 2009 at 11:48 am

You are so right about the recipes all being different. My Grandma made a different version than her sisters. And nothing was written down. To this day my mom (who of course makes my Grandma’s version) doesn’t measure and asking her for the recipe is “take some of this, add some of that”. I’ve made pansit several times but only with my mom at my shoulder giving me instructions. I really do need to write grams recipe down. (FYI, my Grams pansit, is my most favorite dish in the entire world! :)

Reply
Deseree
March 31, 2009 at 2:03 pm
haha I totally agree about most recipes being “a little of this and a little of that”. That is actually one of the really good things that has come out of starting this blog. Whenever I would make something and someone would ask me for the recipe I would never have anything written down since I would never measure, but when I started the blog that changed all of that :)