Pancit Canton

Pancit Canton are wheat flour noodles that are often compared to the Filipino version of ‘chow mein’, the noodles also originating from Chinese origins.

What is Pancit Canton ?

Typically stir-fried with the choice of meats or seafoods, vegetables, and a rich and savory sauce. Pancit-Canton “noodles” are not to be confused with the pre-packed instant noodles packs you can find in almost every big or small grocery store or street stall in the Philippines, the term “Pancit” itself means “noodles”, and typically calls for the slightly thick yellowish slightly chewy noodles that many call “pancit canton”, sometimes the shortened pancit can also call for very thin ‘bihon’ or rice vermicelli, and more ‘pancit’ or ‘noodle’ variety. Learn more about these interestingly beloved Pancit canton noodles down below!

A Short Pancit History

Pancit Canton (pancit pronunciation ‘paan-suht’) is a type of noodle made of wheat flour and eggs, creating a subtle to bright when food coloring is added, yellow color.these are typically seen in FIlipino dishes as noodles typically used for stir-fry, similar to the Chinese ‘chow mein’ or the Japanese ‘yakisoba noodles’. While you can also find them added into other dishes like soups or more sauce-y dishes, these are better for stir fried dishes as it can hold up its shape better than most Filipino style noodles. “Pancit” is actually a FIlipino word for “Noodles” thus calling it “Pancit-Canton” rather than “Pancit-Canton-Noodles”. You can find its fellow noodle relatives or rather types of pancit like: pancit bihon, pancit palabok, pancit miki, pancit molo, pancit malabon. Each noodle differs depending on the different pancit recipes ( canton recipe ) which suits them. Mixed up in the search bar when you only type the word ‘pancit’, or it typically directs you to these two noodle types, the bihon or canton.

The Canton noodles are not to be mixed up with the popular Lucky Me Filipino instant noodles. Pancit ingredients include wheat flour with eggs (sometimes with the addition of coloring or salt), kneaded then stretched into strings by hand but typically machine made. Cooked into a subtly chewy egg noodles. These dried packaged noodles with Chinese origins can be adjusted to a healthier dish and flavor profile to depend on the cook. You can find them eaten at celebrations, special holidays, or gatherings in most cases as noodles signify a long and prosperous life. 

Questions

• Where to buy pancit noodles?

You can buy the dried noodles at most grocery stores in Asia, but some can also find it at especially stores in the noodles section or asian aisle. For convenience you can also find a lot of online stores selling the noodles domestically or internationally.

• Pancit Canton Ingredients

These are made of wheat-flour and eggs, salt, and water included. Some additions to preserve the noodles are vegetable oils, thickeners, and acidity regulators, with some adding yellow food coloring.

• How to reheat pancit noodles?

If frozen thaw it for an hour or till less icy before doing the following:

1. Place the noodles in a microwavable bowl, add a bit of water to avoid it from drying. Place in a microwave for 1 minute at a time till it feels warm enough.
2. You can also place this in a steamer by placing it in a glass or ceramic plate covered with foil. Once the steamer is ready, place it in for 20 to 30 minutes, or till warm from the inside.

Pancit recipes:

How to cook pancit canton? Not from the instant and ready to go pack but from different recipe for pancit canton to replacements for some Filipino pancit bihon recipes, or miki recipes:

• Pancit Canton Guisado (Pancit Guisado)- stir-fried noodles with a mix of vegetables like carrots, green beans, cabbage, the inclusion of chicken meat sometimes with chicken liver, squidballs, tossed together in a rich umami soy sauce-sauce base.
  • You can also change the choice of meats and use seafoods like shrimps instead to make this shrimp pancit recipe.
  • If you remove any of the meats and add double of the vegetables you can turn it into a vegetarian pancit recipe.
• Pancit Miki – substitute the miki to make this easy pancit canton dish made of noodles, cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, chopped pork belly, doused in a rich and savory oyster sauce base. Make it even more delicious by adding chicken to make “Chicken Pancit Miki”
• Use it as a replacement to miki noodles in Pancit Chami or Sweet and Spicy Chami, a specialty noodles dish from the province of Quezon. A noodle dish that uses a mix of chicken and pork.