Vera Custodio Cooks: Pancit Bihon

My latest character, Vera Custodio, loves to cook. Here's a simple and delicious dish to whip up when you're short of time.

½ lb large shrimp, shelled and cleaned

1 lb thin sliced steak, cut into thin strips, dusted with cornstarch

3 scallions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 slices ginger, minced

Shredded romaine lettuce, 2 cups

Assorted vegetables (Chinese snow peas, straw mushrooms, chopped orange bell pepper, chopped summer squash, whatever you have handy)

8 oz package Pancit Bihon (thin dried rice sticks)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp lime juice or calamansi

1 tsp Tabasco sauce (or more to taste)

1 Tbsp banana ketchup

Pepper to taste

Cooking oil

Water or chicken broth

1.      Heat oil in a wok. Stir fry beef until tender. Add shrimp, scallions, garlic and ginger mixture. Cook until shrimp just turns color.

2.      Stir in vegetables and sauce ingredients. Sprinkle pepper to taste.

3.      Boil water or chicken broth while cooking above.

4.      Immerse rice sticks for a few minutes, pull out and fold into the wok with the meat and vegetable mix. Let most of the liquid be absorbed by the rice sticks and serve.

5.      Garnish with lemon slices, cilantro

variation: substitute shredded pork loin for the beef and 1 tsp bagoong in place of Tabasco sauce.

Knowing Vera is a romantic drama involving family secrets and disability. While embarking on a journey to prove her father innocent of murder, Vera Custodio discovers the truth about herself.