If there’s one dish staple that is present in every celebration, probably this is the ubiquitous and all-time favorite: pancit! Pancit is as crucial to each Filipino feast as rice is to every complete Filipino meal. I grew up loving this noodle dish over spaghetti, as I love the meat and veggies in it, can be consumed easily, and as a takeaway food. Best to eat while it’s piping hot or warm at least.
Pancitarenoodles and the dishes made from them usually made with rice noodles, either stir-fried or with soup. Noodleswere introduced into thePhilippinesearly on byChinesesettlers in the archipelago, and over the centuries have been fully adopted into local cuisine, of which there are now numerous variants and types. The termpancitis derived from theHokkienpian i sit(Chinese: 便伊食 piān-ê-si̍torChinese:便食;pinyin:biàn shí) which literally means “convenient food.” Food establishments specializing in noodles are often referred to as panciterias. These eateries catered to masses, serving local pancit with ingredients readily available and easy to cook. As a favorite “takeout food”, different regions all over the Philippines developed their own versions of this noodle dish.
It continues to be enjoyed by generations of Filipinos in various forms, with sotanghon, bihon, canton, or miki as the most commonly used and consumed noodle variants. Pancit also goes by a lot of names, each one indicating either the dish’s color (pancit puti or white pancit), how it is eaten (pancit habhab), where it is sold (pancit istasyon), alleged inventor (pancit Henoy), or its place of origin (pancit Malabon).
As I travel across our country, I try to eat at local restaurants of that place, including pancit. There are so many yummy varieties of pancit ornoodle dishin the Philippines and in this post, I will show the varieties I personally eaten and where to find them. If homemade is indicated, for sure that noodle dish is available on the place nearby, such as pancit bato that is popular in Bicol region. This post will be updated for every pancit variety eaten at a time.
- Maki mi– thickpork tenderloinsoup originating from the Chinese-Filipino community ofBinondo,Manila.
- Pancit Abra– common inNorthern Luzonparticularly in the province ofAbra. A variant of Pancit Miki, in either soupy or fried version.
- Pancit alanganin– Rare pancit dish found in Bulacan. Legends says the dish was created by accident, when someone accidentally spilled broth on the finished pancit noodles.
- Pancit alahoy
- Pancit Bam-I– also known asPancit Bisaya. A specialty originating inCebu, withbihon(rice) andcanton(wheat) noodles sautéed together.
- Pancit batchoy– Iloilo’s stir-fried version of batchoy.
- Pancit Bato– is local to the Bicol Region; especially the town of Bato in Camarines Sur. The noodles were a bit toasted when it was dried.
- Pancit bihon guisado– or simplypancit bihon(traditionally and historically also spelled asSpanish:bijon) is the type usually associated with the word “pancit“, very thinrice noodlesfried withsoy saucesomecitrus, possibly withpatis, and some variation of sliced meat and chopped vegetables. The exactbihoncomposition depends on someone’s personal recipe but usually,Chinese sausageandcabbageare the basic relish.
- Pancit buko– coconut strips are substituted for noodles
- Pancit Cabagan– served inCabagan, Isabelaand nearby towns. Stir-fried and served either dry with separate soup, or “wet” or soup and noodles combined.
- Pancit canton– Filipino adaptation oflo meinandchow mein. Either in instant or stir-fried versions.
- Pancit canton Ilonggo
- Pancit chami(Lucena City, Quezon)
- Pancit choca(orPancit pusit) – a blackpancitfromCavitemade withsquid inkandbihon.
- Pancit Efuven – Iloilo’s local version of linguine, like a cleaner pancit canton.
- Pancit estacion– fromTanza,Cavite
- Pancit habhab–Lucban, Quezon specialty. Served in banana leaves, eaten directly without utensils, the name is anonomatopoeiaof eating it, like a pig snorts.
- Pancit kilawin– a variety ofpancitwhich originated inRosario,Cavite. In lieu ofpancitnoodles, shredded unripepapayafruit is used cooked with vinegar and fish. Usually partnered withdinuguandish
- Pancit kinalas – Naga City, Camarines Sur’s version of pancit in soup or dried form.
- Pancit langlang – A delicious combination of fresh miki and cellophane noodles with ground pork, flaked chicken, and tender-crisp vegetables from Imus, Cavite.
- Pancit lomi– Originally fromBatangas,pancit lomiis usually sold in eateries across the province. With the mobility of the Filipinos; however, other people got wind of pancit lomi and now you will see different lomihans (eateries with just lomi) whipping up their own pancit lomi, panciterias (eateries specializing in pancit) adding it in their menu, and carinderias (which are usually offering the usual viands and not pancit) starting to offer it alongside its other rice-based meals.
- Pancit luglugorLuglog – It uses a thicker noodle (canton noodles) than the traditionalbihonof apancit palabokand usually has less condiments and relish on top.
- Pancit lucban–Lucban’s own product. The noodles were mixed in with generous toppings and ingredients.
- Pancit Maciang – Pansit bihon with sunny-side up egg and probenor chicken proventriculus topped with banana ketchup from San Pedro City, Laguna.
- Pancit Malabon– Thick rice noodles with different toppings. Known inMalabon Cityand anywhere else.
- Pancit mami – round egg noodles. Common in everywhere.
- Pancit Marilao – variant of pancit palabok. But unlike the classic pancit palabok, this is topped with okoy and slices of kamias to substitute calamansi.
- Pancit miki– round egg noodles, or flat yellow noodles, or dusty white noodles either stir-fried or in soupy version.
- Pancit míki-bíhon guisado– round egg noodles +bihon, a hybrid type of stir-fried noodle.
- Pancit Olongapo–Pancit Mikiwithsarsasauce.Mikicooked in tradition added withsarsa, a thickened chicken and pork broth, darkened a little with soy sauce of choice
- Pancit Molo–wonton soupwith wonton wrappers added to the broth, serving as its “noodles”
- Pancit moròng
- Pancit palabok – Pancit which was assembled like aspaghetti, with sauce on top of noodles, mixing it before eating.
- Palabokano– variation ofpancit palabok from La Union with home-made longganisa bits, leeks, egg, chicharon and vegetables.
- Pancit pula– variation ofpancit mikifromBatangas City
- Pancit puso – A Caviteñean style pansit made of combination of bihon and miki bihon cooked in achuete with small slices of pork and thinly sliced green beans, carrots and cabbage. Rather than calamansi as souring agent, pansit puso is served with thinly sliced puso ng saging (banana blossom) cooked in generous amount of vinegar.
- Pancit Shanglan – Egg noodles stir-fried with Mongolian paste, vegetables, meat, shrimp, scrambled eggs and sesame toppings from Kalibo, Aklan.
- Pancit Sotanghon– acellophane noodlesoup with achicken brothbase. It may include some kind of meat and vegetable. A typicalsotanghonis made withcalamansi, sliced straw mushrooms, slivered dark-meat chicken andgreen onion.
- Pansit sabaw(Pansit mikiwith soup)
- Pancit Tagapo – specialty in Brgy. Tagapo of Santa Rosa City, Laguna that uses chicharong bulaklak for ingredient.
- Pansit TuguegaraoorBatil Patung– not commonly known outside ofTuguegaraoin the province ofCagayanin NorthernLuzon, Philippines. It is an unusual noodle dish with a sauce based on soy and“cara-beef”beef broth. It is served with two piquant side dishes: a cup of egg-drop soup made with the samecara-beefbroth; and a dish of chopped onions, vinegar orcalamansi,chili peppersand soy sauce. The noodles are usually wheat-based and are topped with groundcara-beef, pork liver, mung bean sprouts, and poached egg from whence the namebatil patong, literally “scrambled and placed on top” is thought to be derived. Sometimes, other vegetables, crushedpork-rind cracklingsor chorizo are also added on top. Soup was served separately.
- Pansit sinanta– also from Tuguegarao, consists of flat egg noodles,bihon, clams and chicken, with broth colored withannattoand served with pinakufu, a variant of dango.
