After weeks of coming up empty at supermarket aisles, Filipinos across the UAE are celebrating the return of Super Q Golden Bihon, the cornstarch noodle brand that anchors one of the community’s most cherished comfort dishes.
The good news spread quickly through the popular community Facebook group Food Trip UAE, where a member posted on September 9 that Al Madina Supermarket in Salahuddin, Dubai, had received fresh stock. “Sa mga naghahanap po ng Bihon” (“For those looking for bihon”), the post began, guiding kabayans from Salahuddin Metro Station toward the Fish Roundabout to find the store fronting the main road.
The response was immediate. Within hours, the poster returned with an all-caps update: “UBOS NA PO!” (“It’s all sold out!”), congratulating those who managed to grab a pack before shelves emptied again. Others chimed in with their own sightings — Golden Day Hypermarket and a Day to Day branch on Al Maktoum Road among them — while some noted their local branches in Ajman remained out of stock.
The scramble underscores just how much the humble noodle means to the diaspora. For many overseas Filipino workers, a plate of pancit bihon is a taste of home that no substitute can replace.
Why Filipinos love their bihon
In Filipino tradition, eating noodles, or pancit, is meant to symbolize long life and good health — a custom adopted when noodles were introduced to the Philippines by the Chinese. The long, unbroken strands are the point: cutting noodles is avoided because it symbolizes shortening blessings or life.
Pancit bihon, made from thin cornstarch or rice-stick noodles stir-fried with garlic, vegetables, soy sauce, calamansi, and a choice of meat or seafood, is a fixture at birthdays, fiestas, reunions, and Noche Buena. For OFWs marking milestones far from family, cooking a batch is both celebration and connection to home.
A brand with deep roots
Super Q is among the most recognizable bihon labels in Filipino kitchens. It is produced by Ngosiok Marketing, a Cebu-based manufacturer rooted in the Chinese noodle-making tradition, whose founder Lucio Ngosiok began making Chinese noodles in Cebu as early as 1943 during World War II. The company markets Super Q Golden Bihon as its premium brand sold locally and internationally, and it is hailed as the original, firm to the bite when cooked.
The “Proudly Philippine made” packaging, familiar to shoppers back home, is exactly what makes spotting it abroad feel like a small victory.
Prices creeping up
Amid the celebration, some shoppers flagged rising costs. One community member shared a receipt from a Day to Day branch showing Super Q Golden Bihon ringing up at AED 4.99, lamenting that the same pack once sold for AED 2.75. Another product he cited, Reno Liver Spread, had reportedly climbed from AED 3.75 to AED 5.50. A separate post noted Golden Day Hypermarket pricing the bihon at AED 1 per pack with a minimum AED 50 purchase.
For now, though, the mood in the community leans toward relief. As one commenter put it after finally locating a pack: “Savior po kita” — “You’re a lifesaver.”
