MANILA, Philippines - My earliest memory of pancit was not my lola’s cooking but Ma Mon Luk mami. The plus was that Ma Mon Luk was there himself. After I had wiped out my bowl of chicken mami, watching the noodle man expertly cut the noodles for each order then spoon out just the right amount of broth, the man that was in the huge photo near the stairs gave me a lollipop then pointed to his facsimile and chanted, “Ma Mon Luk, Mami King.”The Ma Mon Luk I remember was the original outlet in Chinatown. And one restaurant in Binondo was where my father always bought pancit canton whenever he was in the area. The pancit would always arrive hot and I would salivate as the cone-shaped packaging—banana leaf and newsprint bound by several rubber bands—was unraveled and the still steaming noodle dish was poured on the serving plate. The packaging isn’t quite the same, but the Aristocrat pancit canton approximates the flavor of my father’s Chinatown pancit. It also has abundant sahog or assortment of ingredients that come with the noodles— shrimps, slices of pork, fish balls, chicken liver and gizzard, cabbage slices, julienned carrots, chicharo (snow peas). The noodles are perfect, brownish, never overcooked but certainly not al dente. It is pancit Malabon that has successfully branded the town’s specialty noodles. Years ago, I assigned myself on a food trip through each Malabon noodle restaurant. Nanay’s was the first restaurant visited, its noodle version a bit wetter than the others. "Nanay" is unmarried but she is mother to several nephews and nieces. A place that simply called itself “D’Original Pancit Malabon” served a noodle dish that was a bit drier than Nanay’s but not outstanding. The owner showed me a photocopy of a story written years ago about her grandmother who founded the restaurant. What I recall from the article was that the Spaniards closed the restaurant for a while, and when that time frame was mentioned, it did give credence to their claim of being “D’ Original.” Finally we came to Rosie’s, quite well known in Metro Manila because it has a branch at the Philippine Trade and Training Center grounds. I like Rosie’s version and ate it with camachile cookie, a less rich butter cookie shaped like the camachile fruit. The branch, however, is like a carinderia and I wish the place were cleaner. My pancit Malabon hankering is always readily appeased by the Pancit ng taga Malabon outlet on Pasay Road in Makati and the version of my sister-in-law who is from the place. Pancit Malabon is elsewhere known as pancit luglog or pancit palabok. I’ve always been asked what the difference is between a luglog and palabok. I once thought that luglog uses bihon noodles and palabok, the thicker rice noodles. But having gone through several provinces, I’ve finally accepted that the two are interchangeable. In Metro Manila one of the best pancit palabok is at Via Mare and for pancit luglog, it’s the one served at the lobby of The Peninsula Hotel Manila. On a trip to Marilao, Bulacan I was privy to how the pancit palabok was assembled. The secret is in the sauce, which was already prepared at both places from basic ingredients of broth and shrimp juice, flour or egg for thickening and coloring from annatto (achuete). At Nena’s Pancit Palabok, pig’s brain was added to the sauce, poured over rice sticks and garnished with slices of egg and chopped green onions. At Ka Yoying Palabok, Yoying Nagbalon showed us the pancit assembly. To the boiled bihon, she added ground pepper, fried garlic, shrimps that had been fried, colored with annatto and then ground, the palabok sauce and shredded smoked fish (tinapa). Then another layer of bihon was placed on top of all that. Liquid fat was poured over, then patis (fish sauce), calamansi juice, pepper and finally, a topping of what is called chicharong bigas, rice fried in sheets then cracked into small pieces and available in the province. My favorite will always be the pancit habhab in Lucban, Quezon. Made of brownish miki noodles, when it’s at its simplest, there’s just the noodles with a little sayote flavored with Del Monte vinegar given to you on a square banana leaf. It gets its name from how it’s usually eaten—sucking out the noodles from the leaf. Today, other versions are made richer with chunks of lechon kawali in the mix, just like the one offered by Buddy’s Pancit Lucban. It is in Iloilo where noodles are a major part of the cooking. When Ilonggo pancit is mentioned, batchoy comes to mind, egg noodles in a rich broth flavored with guinamos (shrimp paste), specifically the one from Tipauan town in Estancia, with slivers of pork and innards, white shrimps and crushed chicharon. Deco’s at the La Paz Market and Ted’s in the downtown area (and at the malls) are the best places to have batchoy. Pancit Molo originated from the former Chinese enclave of Molo. It isn’t made up of noodle strips but of small dumplings like ravioli. Unlike batchoy, there are no pancit Molo specialty restaurants, but at a branch of Panaderia de Molo near the Central Market in Iloilo City, this noodle dish is served. Perhaps less known as an Ilonggo noodle is pancit efuven. It’s egg noodles cooked in the usual pancit guisado (sautéed noodles) way. One can get this from many of the restaurants in Iloilo. Those are just some of the pancit offerings throughout the country and I’m sure there are more to be had. After all, it’s almost a staple in Filipino households. R. Ma Mon Luk, Banawe Avenue, corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City
Aristocrat’s, Roxas Boulevard and Jupiter, Makati
Pancit Malabon restaurants: No exact address but you can ask any resident and they will point you to the places.
Via Mare at Greenbelt 1, Makati
The Peninsula Manila, Makati
Nena’s Pancit Palabok, Marilao, Bulacan (044) 641-0153
Ka Yoying Palabok, Marilao, Bulacan, (044) 711-3809
Lucban Miki Factory, Lucban, Quezon
Buddy’s Pancit Lucban, Kalayaan Avenue, Makati, 899-5991 and 93. Michaela Fenix is a food writer, editor of cookbooks, and cuisine researcher. |
