Community Cookbook: Pancit bihon by Maria Wade from Zamboanga City, Philippines

Recipes tell the stories of communities and the people who shape them. Each recipe is more than a list of ingredients and steps; it is a written legacy of the individual who created the dish, their family and history. This monthly series highlights one of these legacies and gives readers the chance to create the recipe themselves.

Maria Wade grew up in Zamboanga City in the Philippines, but spent a lot of time on her mother Emerita Falcasantos’ farm, where they grew coconuts, coffee, guava, jackfruit and other tropical fruits.

“You can grow anything, because it’s summer all year long [in the Philippines],” Wade says.

When Wade was in school, she often traded guavas for paper or pencils. Then, she’d sell other produce to local markets to help make money for her five sisters, mother and brother.

On her mother’s farm, they had hundreds of coconut trees they used to make homemade coconut oil, candy and fruit salad. Wade says the products they created depended on the age of the coconuts, with the oldest brown coconuts used for making oil and the youngest green coconuts used for making fruit salad.

Wade says she learned how to cook at the age of seven. First, she learned how to make rice, a staple in the Philippines she says they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then, she learned how to make more complicated dishes such as pancit bihon, a Filipino noodle dish. Wade says the dish is at “every birthday party and every occasion” and is often served with chicken, fish or pork adobo, the national dish of the Philippines.

“In the Philippines, we don’t have recipe book,” Wade says. “We just put this and put that [together]. All of us don’t have recipe book. … You taste it and see.”

In 1987, Wade met her husband Robert Wade while he was visiting the Philippines with his best friend. The two communicated through letters and expensive collect calls for one year until she got approved by the United States government to immigrate to America. Sometimes, Wade says it would take more than a month for their letters to reach each other.

On Oct. 12, 1988, Wade moved to Jackson and was instantly shocked by the colder weather and bright, colorful leaves. In the Philippines, she says it is “green all year long.”

“[When I got here,] it was orange, purple, pink. It was beautiful,” Wade says.

It took a while for Wade to adjust to life in Southeast Missouri, but as she made friends, she grew to love the area and changing seasons. She made memories at her in-laws’ house, where she got married in the living room, raised her family and babysat full-time. Wade still lives in the same house today.

After moving to the United States, Wade had a dream to start an international foods store, a desire that stemmed from her experience working at grocery stores and bakeries in the Philippines. Wade made trips to St. Louis to purchase international groceries and began picking up extra items for friends. Her inventory grew, and her husband built shelves in their basement to store the items, which she sold out of their home under a license. She says she’d tell her friends, “If you need something, I have it here.”

One day, they found a Filipino grocery store going out of business in St. Louis. They quickly bought the store’s equipment, inventory and name, and hauled the items back to Cape Girardeau, where they purchased a building at 1537 Independence St.

Pacific Rim Market officially opened its doors in 2008. Wade says she has customers driving from as far as Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Paducah, Ky., to shop at her store. Every month, Maria and Robert Wade go to Chicago to buy inventory from 11 wholesalers, picking up items to appeal to worldwide cuisines and tastes.

“That was my dream to own the store,” Wade says. “It came true.”

Although Wade spent the first 22 years of her life in the Philippines, she now says Southeast Missouri is her home; it is the place where her mother, husband, daughter and grandchildren live. Still, she shares stories of the Philippines and Filipino food whenever she gets the chance.

“I just like to share with everybody,” Wade says.

Pancit bihon made by Maria Wade sits on a table in Wade's home. Wade says she loves sharing Filipino food with others when she has a chance.Jasmine Jones

__Pancit Bihon__

1 1/2 pounds chicken with bones and skin on

1/2 pound bihon noodles rice sticks

1/2 pound sotanghon noodles green bean thread

1/2 piece cabbage, chopped

2 pieces carrots julienne

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 piece onion, sliced

3 stalks celery or celery heart, chopped

6 cups water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Pour 6 cups of water into a cooking pot. Let boil. Put in the chicken, and boil for 30 minutes. Remove the boiled chicken from the cooking pot. Let it cool down. Shred the meat, and discard the bones. Set aside. Note: Do not throw away the water yet. We will use it later as chicken stock.

Meanwhile, soak the sotanghon and bihon noodles in water for 10 minutes. Set aside. Note: Do this by using a large mixing bowl filled with tap water.

Heat a large pan. Pour in 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Let the oil get hot, then stir-fry the cabbage and carrots for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan, and set aside. In the same pan, heat the remaining cooking oil. Once the oil becomes smoking hot, sauté the onion, celery and garlic. Add the ground black pepper and shredded chicken. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in soy sauce and 1 cup of chicken stock. (This is the water that was used to boil the chicken.) Stir and let boil. Cook for 2 minutes more. Add the soaked noodles. Toss the noodles until all the ingredients are well-blended. If the noodles are somewhat dry, add a cup of chicken stock, and continue to toss until the liquid is absorbed. Put in the stir-fried cabbage and carrots. Toss. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with lemon or calamansi. Share and enjoy!

__See Wade make this recipe at The Best Years Facebook page.__