Sotanghon guisado has always been a personal favorite. There are so many versions of it, that I often have to boil my likes or dislikes with respect to this dish based on the following criteria: noodles, broth, volume of meat, shrimp and veggies. Buy the best sotanghon you can find/afford. It will be more elastic, less mushy, and carries the flavors of the dish well, rather than seeming like waterlogged starch. Ideally the broth should be made with love, from scratch. No cubes in this dish. And more often than not, I use pork broth, but sometimes I use shrimp broth and some homemade chicken broth. Finally, I like “laman” or lots of shrimp, ham, chicken, pork, veggies, etc. This is essentially a one-dish meal for me. :)
One of my favorite sotanghon recipes is the one used at La Cocina de Tita Moning, the recipe of which was generously shared with readers in this old post, by Suzette Montinola of LCdTM. This version that I did here was a bit of a shortcut and adjusted because we didn’t have any pork in the house… I think I was just so eager to keep using the wok, it was the cooking more than the dish that was in focus. Nevertheless it turned out pretty scrumptious. The occasion was our gardener’s birthday. “Gardenman” has been our part-time gardener for some 10 years or so, and some of you might recall, has brought us some wonderful food items to our home over the years, see crispy pata, here. Whenever one of the crew has a birthday, we try to have some noodles, a favorite protein of some sort (pork, chicken, etc.) and of course, a cake.
For this sotanghon guisado, I first stirfried a bit of garlic, onions, sliced green beans and cabbage and set that aside. Next, I added some oil to the pan, more garlic, onions, carrots, sliced red capsicum or bell peppers, and stir-fried that a bit.
Next lots of small shrimp, shredded chicken, and majestic ham.
Add some homemade shrimp broth, and chicken broth (from boiling the chicken to be shredded).
Pre-soaked noodles go in next.
Sit this up nicely until still a bit wet but not soupy. Add some achuete oil if you want color; personally, I do like it with a little color to make it a bit more appetizing to look at.
Add the sauteed vegetables back in at this point and mix well. Add some chopped green onions to garnish and it’s done!
Serve with sliced dayap or kalamansi on the side. Happy Birthday Gardenman! :)
66 Responses
i just love pancit sotanghon….well, any kind of pancit for that matter….yummy!
ang sarap, sarap. i havent eating sotanghon in ages. great of ms montinola to provide the recipe.
oops its suppose to be: i haven’t eaten sotanghon in ages ;P
hmm..yummy! my mother-in-law goes over the top with dodo fishballs, chinese dried mushrooms, mandarin chorizo, black fungus & her secret, oyster sauce. always a hit! and i totally agree with finding the best sotanghon noodles for this dish. she always uses the “Longgi” kind…..
ooops, i forgot! happy birthday to mr.gardenman :D
Love sotanghon, too! I agree, the noodles are very important. I’ve been using Saporro brand for quite some time now, I think they’re the best and quality is consistent.
Some variations on the dish which my mom called bihongki: boiling the chicken broth with some crushed stalks of tanglad (lemongrass) for extra fragrance, or some casubha ( local saffron?)for a dash of color and flavor and lots of crushed sauteed garlic just before serving, dalish!!!
I can never duplicate my mom’s bihongki, one of the things my cousins remember my mom for. And yes, MM, the secret is in making sure you have good or genuine bean thread, not some sotanghon made out of potato starch.
Wow! this site of yours is just qwuite simple,,, i love it!!!! thanks to you and more power!! i jus love to cook too!!!
And yeah!!! Happy birthday MR.Gardenman! godbless to you
Now that’s what I call a posting. I will definitely cook it after this labor weekend. What’s a good substitute for majestic ham in California? Where can you buy black fungus “teinga ng daga”? Thanks for the new recipe.
im craving for sotonghon guisado since yesterday and your post today is a good timing…tnx mm
I buy my sotanghon noodles from The Little Store in San Juan
Mm, sotanghon is my #1 fave among all the pancit dishes. I think it’s the texture that I enjoy most since the other types of noodles aren’t as slippery and therefore not as “fun” to eat. Hehe.
P.S. For some reason, I found the term “Gardenman” so funny. :o)
yes!!! sotanghon is one of my old favorites….
Happy birthday GM! :D
Drool!! Look at all the sahog, that looks sooo yummy Marketman. I love noodles and sotanghon guisado is definitely on top of my list. I like that it absorbs more flavour and it doesn’t have the tendency to dry (at least when my mom makes it) unlike bihon. My mom makes it for brunch on special occasions and usually serves it with suman sa ibos or pan de sal. Total carbohydrate overload but I sure miss it. I’ve made my very first sotanghon last week and I was terrified it will turn into a mush. It wasn’t bad or at least the result was encouraging so I might try it again. If I ever do it again, I will try your recipe from La Cucina de Tita Moning.
We also had sotanghon this weekend but äla Pancit puti with only shredded chicken,leeks/green onions, lots of garlic, ginger as “sahog” and real sotanghon noodles(lung kow) cooked in very good homemade chicken broth.So yummy (despite the simplicity )in this very rainy weather!I dont pre soaked the noodles but cook them straight in the broth for yummier absorption.
Hi MM. This is the hubby’s specialty. What’s a good brand for the sotanghon noodle?
OH wow! my favorite :D
one of my comfort food pair with hot pandesal or pan americano…. I can eat this breakfast, lunch and dinner :)
classic dish! well done MM!
Nice post MM! My kids and I are big fans of pansit much to the chagrin of my hubby. heheh :D
I like sotanghon also ahead of bihon or canton.
read at 3:30 pm-suddenly am so hungry!
This is comfort food. hmmm…wishing I had a bowl right about now.
mmmm, sarap… during rainy days like this one, mas masarap siya with sabaw. haaay, i think i’ll make sotanghon for breakfast.
ps: mr. mm, ganda ng wok mo. mine is the traditional old fashioned pinoy style kawali. you think a non-stick kawali is just as good? am planning to buy a new one.
i love sotanghon too!i remember when i was a kid,i would slurp it without breaking the noodles till i almost choke (chinese belief about getting a shorter life span thing hehe)… my half-chinese grand-aunt makes the best i’ve ever eaten
I have just got an offer to cross the Atlantic sea in few weeks. Main job will be cooking for 10 crew a mix match of Canadian, South AFrican, Swiss, English, Kiwi…. if am going to accept it then I will soon fly to Spain and get ready for provisioning, SOTANGHON will be on my list.
I just hope the Asian store in Palma stocks sotanghon…
bam-e (cebu’s version of sotanghon) is always present during every birthday occassion in our house for long life daw. my white colleagues love the “pansit” during our every potluck and i dont blame them, talaga namang masarap.
MM I drooling. yummy… i love noodles, any variety will do
Like mardie c”,), bami-i is my favourite noodle dish but the sotanghon guisado in this post is a close competitor.
Looks like you’re really having fun with the wok, MM.
Happy birthday to Gardenman!
Hi MM,
Looks like you are really having fun with your wok. But what knife do you use for chopping/slicing your sahog? Thought you might like this one on some kitchen knives crafted from the samurai tradition:
https://www.whiteonricecouple.com/travel/nishiki-market-kyoto-aritsugu-knives/#more-7517
sotanghon and puto! Any sarap!
this dish does look great
strangely enough though, i’m the opposite – i don’t like much sahog on my pancit (any kind of pancit) – preferring to have a whole lot of noodles instead.
sotanghon, my favorite also…and this recipe is easy to do.
I love my Tita’s Bam-i. We usually use Lungkow Vermicelli Sotanghon that my aunt brings to us from the barter in Zamboanga.
I also love all Chinese-Filipino pancit dishes: bihon, canton/mami & especially sotanghon. Like Cien, I try to buy Lungkow brand sotanghon. To ariel: tengang daga or black fungus is also called ‘cloud ears’ or ‘tree ears’ or “mo er” in Chinese stores. The cheaper kind have smaller pieces & a lot of muck you have to sort through. There’s a more expensive kind that are bigger & blacker & cleaner.
But I can never get the technique of cooking these native noodles. So I just buy them either from Chinese or Filipino resto as take-outs. I cop out & to get the kids to eat “pancit”, I use Linguini fini & put sahog as we make it, but I tell the kids it’s “pasta primavera” since I use a lot of veggies (except for sotanghon guisado – I like it with just tree ears & fat back – which I cook & render before cooking w the rest of the sahog & noodles.
BTW – my MIL used to say NOT all Chinese noodles are meant to be served for B-days; there’s a special one – looks like wider “miswa” & tougher that is called “Long Life” brand noodles & she said these are traditionally served to the B-day celebrant first thing in the day w whole boiled eggs & a sahog or “labay” of simply fried garlic & onions in lard.
Some canton noodle dishes are meant to be served at funerals & should not be served for B-days. Well, at least this is what my Chinese MIL told me (God rest her soul!)
LungKow brand…sotanghon ( mung bean thread noodle)… comes in clear and blue plastic and clear and GREEN plastic…the green and clear packaging costs a bit more (just abit) but far superior quality!
MM: Your wok is looking beautifully seasoned!
Lungkow (Lungkuo?) vs. Longgi: I’ve heard many a cook insist (sometimes strongly, too) on either one of these types of sotanghon. What exactly is the difference between the two?
My mom prefers glass noodles(dang myeon) to the local bihon when making pansit.It looks like sotanghon but the noodles are a bit bigger and is okay even served cold.I found a link here:
https://steamykitchen.com/618-korean-glass-noodles-jap-chae-2.html
and I think kalbi/bulgogi really goes well with the stir fried noodles with veggies!https://steamykitchen.com/109-korean-bbq-kalbi-bulgogi.html
reading through vicky go’s post…. i do recall my amah telling me that sotanghon and bihon are meant to be eaten when commemorating the dead. while canton and misua to be eaten during joyous occasions. i will eat them whenever they are served hahaha…. pictures make me want to make sotanghon guisado.
Toping: one of the sites in the web mentions the term LungKow referring to the port in China in the province of Zang something as to where they are commercially shipped from. Now, I have here at home the LungKow brand…it is transparent, clear which I prefer and the ingredients are just green beans(mung beans) and water. I went to the Asian store yesterday and the other brand is more opaque than anything else. I didn’t look at the ingredients listed on it for I don’t usually buy that brand. I am guessing that it contains potato strach or yam starch making it rather opaque than transparent and clear. Howver, as I have said, I am only guessing…I will go check another store and pay attention to the ingredients on the Longgi brand and will let you know.
Mary Kim: I think the Jap chae noodles are made out of yam starch. There is also a site on the web that lists the different kinds of cellophane noodles and what they are made out of.
Oh, sotanghon can also be added to Pinoy desserts. I know it sounds weird but it is actually good. i made once a type of buko pandan salad…but instead of buko, I put sotanghon cut-up and then had sago in it as well chopped canned langka…added the langka liquid to the milky-coconutty thickened soup? and then placed in a bowl and topped with puffed pinipig!
People raved about my weird dessert!
thanks betty q.^ ^ the glass noodles here are usually made of potato starch, sometimes corn or sweet potato, there’s also a pricey one made out from wheat.sesame oil is used for stir frying and seasoning jap chae, made healthier than the usual cooking oil. have you tried perilla oil?it’s good with pork stir fry dishes.
Hi,
I have been an avid fan of your “wok saga” that you recently started. I’m in awe of the things you have been cooking with it. However, I can’t help but notice the stove that you’re using with your wok. Where did you buy that stove and what’s the brand name? Is it available in the Phlippines? What’s the ball park price of your wok stove? I would really want to have one myself. Thanks.
Linda from Tracy, California
Linda: if you are in North America, you could go on e-bay. Another source is find an outlet for Wolf gas ranges or stove…you could also go and check out restaurant equipment stores.
hi bettyq: at first glance, dessert with sotanghon sounds weird. but upon closer inspection, its a starch same as sago which is often used in dessert.sotanghon and sago are bland so they are good vehicle of any flavor you put on it/it in. i will try your buko salad with sotanghon, and surprise the eaters, hehehe…
Chris…here is another sotanghon dessert. My East Indian neighbour served this once. Though it takes getting used to it in the beginnning, this dessert sort of grows on you! It is a layered dessert. You need to soak sotanghon in hotwater but add local kasubha or saffron to release the yellow color nd make the sotanghon yellow. Then cut it up and put in bottom of glass or clear ramekin. Then add a splash of rose syrup (not for Doc!),then carabao’s milk. …mix them up, and top with vanilla ice cream. Top with crushed pistachios or puffed green pinipig!
Linda, if you scroll back to the first wok post, it gives details of the stove. It is a locally made La Germania, and it cost less than $50 + LPG tank.
perused the website for la cocina de tia moning… made me very nostalgic. i went to school on ycaza st (where malacanang is located). and would walk up and down san rafael with friends. i remember the legarda mansion and other old houses in the vicinity. we would take the san rafael/echague jeep and buy majestic ham in quiapo. those were the days.
@psychomom: i used to live on the street where malacanang is, and used to serve in that parish. i seldom wander on that part of sanmig since we lived on the other end. but i never failed to stop by the mansion and admire and wonder how it looked inside and how the rich lived like…
as for the quiapo ham, since it was a luxury item, my mother would buy the scraps or bones from excellente and use them to flavor vegetable and mongo soup. and no kidding, the bones would be used several times until all its essence/flavor is gone. did you also buy bread from vienna bakery? the hard rolls went well with the ham.
hay, nostalgia and food again… :)
@bettyq: uy, thats a novelty dessert ah? what’s a rose syrup? is it same as rose water? i wonder if its available here in manila.
Rose syrup…sweetened! So, if you have rose water, Chris, just ad a FEW DROPS only and then add simple syrup to sweeten the milk. Do not get too generous with the simple syrup. REMEMBER…there is still VANILLA ice cream added! IF YOU CAN GET COCONUT ICE CREAM, I think it will bring this dessert to a more PINOY taste! Yes, CHris: do that instead of vanilla ice cream and if oyu have no rose syrup, omit it and add a squirt of coconut extract. Actually, you can vary the ice cream…PISTACHIO and then add almond extract to teh simple syrup….even peach ice cream …i BETTER QUIT WHILE i AM AHEAD!
Chris: a word of warning if you haven’t had rose water, or not too keen on aromatic additives. It is an acquired taste, much like some people cannot stand cinnamon ( I love it). I also did not particularly care for jasmine tea in my earlier life, but for me , rose water is a killer. I cannot stand the thought of eating/drinking anything flavored with it when it also comes as a favorite after shave lotion of some tour guides in India and Nepal. I also associate it with the undertones/ overtones? of body scents….if you know what I mean., but that is only me. No offense to those who love it.
Chris, i do not remember going to vienna bakery, maybe because my classmates and i would sneak out as soon as school ends (after the thursday st. jude novena) and just wander the streets. i remember the espasol, pinipig, banana-Q….
those carefree days. some days we would head off to divisoria and ride the small banca across the river. never mind me, now i feel like crying (out of nostalgia).
It’s been years (30-40?)since I’ve been in thearea. Is the St. Jude shrine where college students flock to on the eve of exams in the area? I remember taking a jeep fr Dapitan behind UST – I think we had to transfer somewhere in Quiapo – to go there. Sometimes we’d take a bus from where the South Superhighway intersected Highway 54 (close to Makati) that went through the area to get to Espana & then walk to Dapitan; instead of taking the ones that go through Taft Ave. I don’t even know if these road names still hold true or they have all been renamed.
vicky go Yes, yes!! (excited tone) st. jude is the patron saint of the impossible cases so people flock there for relationships, businesses, examinations. you probably have to take jeep to echague (ilalim ng tulay) then hop on jeep to san rafael and walk to st. jude.
Mayroon poba kayong recipe ng chinese ham na pwdeng gawin sa bahay?
@baby, if you want to try an easy to make homemade ham, try the “Hamon Bulakenya”. Just google it and you will find the recipe. The only ingredient you might find hard to get is the prague powder, but it should be available if you live in the Philippines, if you live in North America, just google the prague powder and you will find some online Spice Stores that carry them. Prague powder is curing salt, you may even substitute prague powder with Morton’s curing salt. It takes between 3-4 days to cure and on the 5th day you boil/simmer the meat and you get a good substitute for chinese ham.
I think the difference between sotanghon and bihon is that they are made from the same thin, rice glass noodle but the sotanghon is wetter. The bihon is drier. Am I right Market Man? Also is canton made from egg noodles, and a bit thicker than sotanghon or bihon? Cheers.
shella, actually I am not sure about the differences. I do know that sotanghon properly made is from mung bean (monggo), not rice. I am not sure what bihon is made from. Canton is made from egg and flour. Korean noodles are sometimes made from sweet potatoes, etc.
there are many different brands of sotanghon in the market…a lot bearing lungkow or the the famous dragon logo…buy the one that has dragon, lungkow, and the sapporo brand….pls tell me how it goes bec ive tried as much sotanghon as i can dislayed on the supermarket shelves and this brand is the best for me….
will cook sotanghon tonite…can’t wait!