years and years ago, when i was teaching at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, we'd take a short break and there would be an enterprising husband and wife team from Morong town with their pots and plastic plates and tin forks dishing out delicious pancit miki, thick egg noodles with mostly vegetables and smidgens of meat and shrimp. the sauce was savory and thick and rich...just right for our "merienda" (snack time). we'd wolf it down under the mango trees and go back to the classrooms teaching our adult students assembly line work and American workplace practices...
since then i've been trying HARD to make a good pancit miki but never had much success until this time. i tried a new pack of "cooked noodles", Epicurean's Choice brand, made in New York City: it did not fall apart but it was al dente enough after a good short soak in boiling water. for the sauce, which is crucial to a good pancit miki, i used chicken broth (boiled chicken legs with shallot, salt and peppercorns), soaking liquid from Chinese dried black mushrooms, oyster sauce, a splash of fish sauce and freshly ground black pepper.
saute garlic, red onions, flaked chicken leg meat, sliced cha-shu (leftover from previous ramen recipe), sliced carrots, a small amount of shrimp, sliced fish cakes, soaked and softened black mushrooms, fresh baby portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced snow pea pods, shredded cabbage, and bean sprouts.
stir fry and add on the broth mixture, on high heat, adding more as necessary until vegetables are tender crisp. thicken with a cornstarch water solution (2 tsps. of cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. of water) then garnish with sliced hardboiled eggs and scallions. other toppings you could use: shredded fried egg, que-kiam (fish and pork rolls in tofu skins), and sliced fried tofu.
surprise! everyone ate it. husband asked me to PLEASE remember this method...
