EVERY Christmas, you prepare a noodle dish because noodles are for long life, and so, for every special occasion, you make sure there’s a noodle dish on the table. For your Noche Buena spread, you often whip up spaghetti with meat sauce simply because it’s easy to prepare, especially with ready-made spaghetti sauces in pouches and cans (and in different variants, too!), but what you’re really craving or this year is Bihon Guisado. So, why not prepare Bihon Guisado for the family this Christmas, whether it be as part of your Noche Buena spread tonight or as one of the dishes on the festive table for Christmas lunch or dinner tomorrow?
Different families have their own different ways of preparing Bihon Guisado. For my family alone, there are are at least different versions of it. Well, I’m sharing one recipe with you which my eldest sister Susana Dy (I call her Swanie) uses. We had lunch together yesterday in the house she shares with our mom, and I asked her to teach me how to make good Bihon Guisado. She didn’t only teach me. She made an impromptu demo in her small kitchen for a special one-on-one cooking lesson. Now, isn’t that cool?
So, here’s the recipe. You still have time to whip it up for one of your Christmas meals.
Have a truly blessed Christmas!
1 pc. chicken breast, cut into strips
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
pinch of salt and sugar
4 tbsps. vegetable oil
1 pc. shallot, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup shrimps, peeled, with tail segment intact
1 pc. small carrot, peeled and julienned
1/2 pc. pechay Baguio, sliced
1/2 pc. small cabbage, shredded
2-3 pcs. dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in 3 cups water
3 tbsps. soy sauce
1 pc. chicken cube
2-1/2 cups mushroom water*
2 tbsps. sugar
227 grams bihon, soaked in water for 10 to 15 minutes
2 tbsps. oyster sauce
salt to taste
1 egg
chopped spring onion
1. Marinate chicken breast with 1 tbsp. oyster sauce and pinch of salt and sugar for at least 30 minutes. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in wok. Saute shallots and garlic until shallots start to limp. Add chicken while continuing to sauté. When chicken turns opaque, add shrimps.
3. Add the carrots, pechay, cabbage and mushrooms (that have been cut into strips).
4. Season with soy sauce, chicken cube, mushroom water (*the water used to soak the dried mushrooms in) and sugar.
5. Add soaked bihon. Lightly stir to make the noodles submerege completely in the liquid, then cover. Allow to boil, then lower heat and adjust seasoning with 2 tbsps. oyster sauce and salt to taste.
6. Beat egg and cook like a thin pancake, then slice into strips.
7. Plate cooked noodles, then top with egg strips and chopped spring onion.
