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Learn to make authentic Pancit Canton through this easy recipe. These Filipino noodles, flavoured with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce, then stir fried with vegetables, pork and shrimp are simply to die for!!
Take a look at another Filipino recipe if you are in the mood for chicken. This Chicken Adobo is it!
Filipino noodles with pork and shrimp aka Pancit Canton are very hot in our house right now. It seems that children simply don’t get tired of these salty noodles with crunchy vegetables, and neither do we.
Why this recipe works
Filipino noodles are quick, made with everyday ingredients, that are most likely already in your fridge and pantry, and they are FULL of good stuff! They are also pretty economical!
Apart from the noodles, you will need a handful of vegetables like green beans, carrots and cabbage as well as pork loin and shrimp to make a flavour-packed one pan dinner.
The great news is that the ingredients used in this dish to add extra flavour are minimal. They are also easy to find in supermarkets so you should have no problems finding what you need to make this for yourself.
What is Filipino food like?
To me simple and inexpensive are the words to describe Filipino cuisine. Or at least the part I am familiar with having spent a year living in the province of Isabela in my 20s.
When it comes to Asian food, Filipino food stands out for its short ingredient list and a lack of obscure items. It is characterized by salty and sour tastes and is very easy to recreate at home.
Pork and rice are big staples in the Filipino cuisine alongside fish and fried chicken. Add in a variety of vegetable stir fries and you’ve got yourself many options to choose from.
Interestingly enough, the food is NOT eaten with chopsticks, as in many Asian countries, but with a fork and a spoon. (Yes, I meant to say a spoon and not a knife.)
After I posted the recipe for my Filipino Chicken Adobo, it became pretty clear that you, my friends, LOVED it. And you asked for more of similar recipes. So today I come to you with another family favourite, and an incredibly popular dish in the Philippines. Pancit Canton.
Pancit simply means “noodles” in the Philippines and Canton-“Chinese”. A large portion of the Filipino cuisine is influenced by the Chinese. But after centuries of cooking it, they made it their own, and Pancit is a good example of it.
What is Pancit?
So let’s talk about this crazy delicious yet simple dish. Pancit is pretty special to the Filipinos and is often made for birthday celebrations. I ate a lot of these delicious noodles in my year in the Philippines as we constantly got invited to birthday parties!
It can be made with pork or chicken, with or without shrimp, with egg noodles or cellophane noodles (the clear kind, and my personal favourite).
But what remains constant is soy sauce-soaked noodles with a tri-veg combination. Carrots, string beans and cabbage.
In my recipe I used runner beans, which I sliced thinly, but feel free to use regular green beans or string beans if you can find them in Asian markets.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- The recipe I am sharing today is my slight adaptation of a recipe that my friend, who also spent that year in the Philippines, shared with me. I changed the cooking method slightly, which I think simplified the recipe. I also added a drop of sesame oil to the dish. I’ve never seen it being used by home cooks but I could always smell it from street stands and in restaurants. So I am assuming it’s still authentic and if not, I am not apologising because it makes it more fragrant and delicious.
- My version of pancit feeds 4 but could be doubled or tripled if you have a big enough pan! It is traditionally made in a large This is an affiliate link.wok, so if you have one, use it!
- Pancit canton has a number of vegetables in it that need to be sliced as consistently as possible so they cook at the same rate. I find that a This is an affiliate link.mandoline makes this far easier and quicker than trying to slice all of them with a This is an affiliate link.knife.
- The dish will cook quickly so it is best to have all the vegetables sliced and ready to go before starting. There won’t be a lot of time to prepare ingredients once you start cooking.
Serving suggestions
Pancit canton is a classic one pan stir fry, a full meal without needing to fuss around with side dishes. A sprinkling of sliced green onions does add a crispy freshness when added before serving.
These noodles are also usually served with a Filipino lime called calamansi, the juice of which is squeezed over pancit. Calamansi incredibly fragrant and delicious but if you can’t find it, serve with a regular lime.
Storage and leftovers
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days if in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing as the noodles will become too soggy.
The best way to reheat is by returning them to a pan over medium heat. Heat up a little oil and add the pancit. Let it get hot all the way through and you are ready for another tasty meal!
More Asian Noodle Recipes
- Chilli Salmon Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles)
- Udon Noodle Soup
- Thai Red Curry with Prawns and Noodles
- Beef Chow Mein
- Shrimp Fried Rice
Filipino Noodles with Pork and Shrimp (Pancit Canton)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 200g/7 oz pork loin, sliced thinly
- 100g/1 cup carrot, green beans and cabbage, sliced thinly
- 150g/1 cup green beans, sliced thinly
- 100g/1 cup white cabbage , sliced thinly
- 3 tbsp +1 tbsp soy sauce
- 125g/4 oz shrimp
- 250g/8 oz egg noodles
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lime, quartered (optional)
- 2 green onions, sliced
Instructions
- In a deep pan or a wok heat vegetable oil over medium heat, then add onion, garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add pork, a pinch of salt and stir fry until pork is cooked for about 5 minutes.
- Add carrots, green beans and cabbage, soy sauce and shrimp, stir to combine and cook on medium-high heat for 7 minutes stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender but still slightly crisp.
- While your vegetables are cooking, prepare the noodles according to package directions. They take 3-4 minutes on average.
- Drain the noodles and add to the pan, toss everything together, taste and add an additional tablespoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of sesame oil, sprinkle with sliced green onion.
- Serve with lime quarters or calamansi.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just wondering…the description said the noodles were flavoured with ginger but there was no ginger listed in the ingredients or in the instructions . How much should I use and when do I add it?
Hi Carol, there is no ginger in this recipe but you can add a tablespoon of grated ginger if you like at the same time as garlic.
ThIs looks delicious and I am in the process of making it. Just noticed that that the description at the top of the post mentions ginger, but I don’t see any ginger in the recipe. I am going to add some minced ginger, because I love ginger and I feel it can’t hurt! Do you?
Ginger and garlic are very much a part of the Filipino cuisine, so yes, absolutely use it, Sue!
Hi Julia,
It’s amazing how these simple tastes of home can take one back to the place of beginnings — now you just made me very homesick! Thank you for featuring a sample of Filipino cuisine.
Thank you so much for your kind comment! I am so pleased you liked my recipe. Philippines was my home for 1 year in my early 20s and I will always feel attached to it!
Another amazing recipe. I just made it tonight. Thank you Julia.
So happy you enjoyed it Kamilia!!
Are there any adaptations when using chicken vs pork?
Not at all, Crystal! 🙂
Very easy to make and was absolutely delicious. This is one of my favorites along with chicken Adobe mmmmmm
I am so excited to hear that!!
For added flavor, try adding 1 pc chorizo de bilbao (smoke-dried sausage) sliced thinly just like the pork or chicken and squid also thinly sliced. Thats how most of us in the philippines cook it, specially if its for a special celebration. I want to try putting that sesame oil.
Hi! what kind of noodles are used in the pictures? The only egg noodles I can find are the wide, short kind. Thank you!
They are the same noodles that are used for Chow Mein, usually found in the Asian section of any supermarket, Tammy.
You can use chow mein noodles but usually it’s the dry packaged pancit canton flour stick noodles
you can also use Bihon( Rice Noodles) Simply Delicious! My mother is born & raised in the Philippines, so Pancit was a staple every holiday.We had to make double & sometimes more than a regular recipe called for.Absolutely Loved 🤗
Yes, the rice noodles are actually my favourite!!
I made this the first time with bacon (baked separately in the oven to crunchiness), the dish was a little dry Ray. Made it a second time with pork and it turned out delicious! There was enough sauce this time! The next day these noodles were even tastier.
Sounds delicious, Inga! It never occured to me to make it with bacon but I am sure the flavour was great. In the Philippines they use pork and also chicken. I use them interchangeably.
I can’t wait to make this with my boys! They love noodle dishes of all kinds.
Mine do too and Pancit is so special! It’s funny but I love it more now than when I lived in the Philippines!!
I am going to try this and i’ll let you know
Great Mary!