Mary Jo’s Story — The Pancit I Make When I Don’t Know What Else to Make

Easter. I drove Lourdes to the Easter Vigil on Saturday — which goes from nine PM to past midnight. She does the whole thing. I do most of it. Easter Sunday lunch — pancit, lumpia, pork sinigang, an Easter ham with pineapple. The American holiday food on the Filipino table. The fusion is the family.

Lourdes is 74. She is in the kitchen. She is luminous. Joseph called from Kodiak Sunday. The fishing is good. The boats are running. He is fine.

I made pancit Sunday. The long-life noodle. The Filipino default. The dish you make when you do not know what to make.

I wrote the blog post Friday night at the kitchen table while Reyna napped on the couch. The post was short. The post was honest.

Angela came over Saturday with the kids. We cooked. We argued about pancit proportions — she uses more soy, I use more calamansi. We are both wrong, according to Lourdes.

I am tired in the seasoned way. The tired is the cost of love. I have been paying the cost. The cost is bearable.

The break room had cake Tuesday. Someone's birthday. We ate the cake. We did not ask whose birthday. The cake was the cake.

I drove the Glenn Highway out to Eklutna on Saturday. The mountains were the mountains. The lake was the lake. The body needed the open road. The open road did its work.

I made tea late at night. The tea was the small comfort. The comfort was the marker.

Angela texted me a photo of the kids. I texted back a heart. The exchange took thirty seconds. The thirty seconds was the keeping.

A blog reader sent me a photograph of her grandmother's wooden mortar and pestle, used since 1962. The photograph was holy. I wrote her back. The writing back is the work.

I read a chapter of a novel before bed each night this week. The novel was about a Filipina nurse in California. The novel was good. The novel was, in some way, my own life adjacent.

I had a long phone call with Dr. Reeves on Wednesday. We talked about pacing and rest and the way the body keeps a log of what it has carried. Dr. Reeves said, "Grace. The body remembers. The mind forgets. The cooking is the bridge." I wrote the line down. The line is now on a sticky note above the kitchen sink.

I took inventory of the freezer Sunday. The freezer had: twelve quarts of broth, eight pounds of adobo in vacuum bags, six pounds of sinigang base, fourteen lumpia trays at fifty rolls each, three pounds of marinated beef for caldereta, and a small bag of pandan leaves Tita Nening had sent me. The inventory was the proof of preparation. The preparation was the proof of love.

The light was good Saturday morning. I sat on the porch with a cup of coffee and watched the inlet for forty minutes. The watching was the small therapy. The therapy was free.

Lourdes called me twice this week. The first call was about a church event. The second was about a recipe variation she had remembered from her childhood. The remembering was the gift.

The Filipino Community newsletter announced the Saturday gathering. I will be on lumpia duty. I am always on lumpia duty.

I cleaned the kitchen Sunday afternoon. I wiped the stove. I scrubbed the sink. I reorganized the spice cabinet. The cleaning was the small reset. The reset was the marker. The marker said: the week is over, the next week begins, the kitchen is ready.

Angela and I argued about proportions the whole time we cooked — more soy, more calamansi, and Lourdes standing at the edge of the kitchen telling us we were both wrong — and I think that argument, that warmth, that specific Saturday noise is exactly what this pancit carries in it now. The long-life noodle earns its name not just because it stretches across a table but because it stretches across years: every Easter, every potluck, every Tuesday when the freezer is full and the body is tired and you need something that already knows how to take care of you. This is the version I came back to that Sunday, simple and honest, the way the best things usually are.

Mary Jo’s Pancit Bihon

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb rice vermicelli (bihon noodles), soaked in cold water for 15 minutes and drained
• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, sliced thin
• 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1 cup snow peas or green beans, trimmed
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 to 3 tablespoons calamansi juice (or fresh lemon juice)
• 2 cups chicken broth, warm
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 green onions, sliced, for garnish
• Calamansi halves, for serving

Instructions

1. Soak the noodles. Place bihon noodles in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for 15 minutes until pliable but not fully soft. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook the protein. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large wok or wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes more until just pink. Remove proteins to a plate and set aside.
3. Build the aromatics. In the same pan, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic and onion and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the vegetables. Add carrots and cook 2 minutes. Add cabbage and snow peas or green beans and toss to combine. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes until vegetables are just tender but still have some bite.
5. Season the pan. Add soy sauce, fish sauce, and calamansi juice to the vegetables. Stir to coat.
6. Add the noodles. Add the drained bihon noodles to the pan. Pour warm chicken broth over the noodles. Using tongs, toss everything together and let the noodles absorb the broth, about 4 to 5 minutes, tossing frequently. Add a splash more broth if the noodles look dry.
7. Return the protein. Add the cooked chicken and shrimp back to the pan. Toss everything together and cook 1 to 2 minutes more until heated through. Season with black pepper and additional soy sauce or calamansi to taste.
8. Serve. Transfer to a large platter. Scatter green onions over the top and serve with fresh calamansi halves on the side for squeezing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 780mg