Do they have to be rice? Because I’ve seen rice vermicelli and cellophane noodles in the store, but I’ve seen wheat based yellow noodles, too.
I would like to make pancit but am stumped on what kind of noodles. what should I look for? (someday I will make the trip to the ‘oriental grocery store’ across town)
Most popularly they are made with rice noodles (usually labeled vermicelli). There’s a few names for them (bún and bihon are what I see most), but they’re all thin and round and made of rice. Cellophane noodles are made from mung bean starch. Since pancit is something of a comfort food, using literally whatever noodle you have on hand is acceptable in a pinch, though your Asian friends may put you through a grueling edits process before allowing you to publish your justification and subsequent formal apology.
Depends on what kind of pancit you’re making.
Pancit bihon - rice sticks
Pancit canton - lo mein (wheat noodles)
Pancit sotanghon - bean thread noodles (aka cellophane or glass noodles)
Pancit molo - wonton wrappers
Pancit miki - round egg noodles