Sotanghon Guisado Recipe

Sotanghon Guisado is a noodle dish made from sotanghon. It is also known as cellophane noodles or Chinese vermicelli. The term “guisado” was derived from the Filipino word “gisa” which means to sauté.

This dish is prepared similarly with other popular Filipino noodle dishes such as Pancit Guisado (or bihon guisado) and Pancit Canton. A good way to make this dish stand-out is by adding lots of minced garlic during the first steps in cooking. The smell of roasted garlic makes the aroma more appealing and the garlicky taste blends well with the sour taste of squeezed calamansi or lemon juice.

As you might have noticed, the recipe suggests the use of annatto water. This has nothing to do with the taste; it is only intended to provide color to the dish for presentation purposes. Annatto water is simple to make; all you need are annatto seeds and water. Simply soak annatto seeds in warm water and for at least 15 minutes then rub the seeds using your fingers to extract the color. Another original ingredient of this recipe that I can’t find is wood ears. These are edible fungus that resembles small mushrooms. These are locally referred to as “tenga ng daga” because of its shape. This dish will be more complete and will taste even better if you can grab hold of it.

Try this Sotanghon Guisado recipe and let me know your thoughts.