Fresh, thick egg noodles, chewier and more substantial than dried rice noodles like bihon — the noodle base for several Filipino soups and regional pancit dishes.
Miki are made from wheat flour and egg, sold fresh (not dried) at wet markets and Asian grocery stores, with a springy, chewy bite closer to Japanese udon or Chinese egg noodles than to bihon or canton. Their thickness lets them hold up in broth-heavy dishes without going soft and mushy the way a thinner noodle would.
Several of the Philippines' most distinctive regional noodle dishes are built on miki rather than the more familiar bihon or canton — Lucban's pancit habhab, Tuguegarao's pancit batil patong, Isabela's pancit cabagan, and Iloilo's La Paz batchoy all use miki as their base.
Recipes on Pancit.com that call for miki.
Lucban, Quezon's stir-fried miki noodles with pork and shrimp, served on a banana leaf and eaten by hand.
Tuguegarao's miki noodles topped with minced beef, pork, and a poached egg, served with an egg-drop soup on the side.
Isabela's saucy miki noodles topped with crispy lechon kawali, stewed pork liver, and hard-boiled quail eggs.
Miki noodles in a rich pork-bone broth topped with pork offal, crushed chicharon, and a raw egg.
