Pancit bihon and lumpiang shanghai maybe too boring for birthdays but in a foreign country when one seldom finds the right ingredient like lumpia wrapper and pancit bihon, these dishes become more than spectacular. The birthday boy was really lucky!

My missing ingredient is kinchay or Chinese celery. Again, how come I can’t find it here in Beijing? A common dilemma here and even in Brunei where I used to be based. Always available is this celery that looks exactly like our kinchay but with a stronger flavor. I’m talking about coriander leaves, main ingredient in Thai tom yam soup. Well, there really is Chinese celery available. The leaves are slightly bigger but I only need few tablespoon of it, chopped, but these are sold in big bunches. So I said forget about it.

Bihon guisado, by the way, is fried rice vermicelli or meehoon goreng in other southeast Asian countries. Here’s my bihon recipe (for long life)!

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