Pancit 101: Oodles of noodles
Off the main highway leading to Batac is an alley that draws students from the Mariano Marcos State University into a carinderia hidden this side of Ilocos Norte.
They are attracted to a piping hot broth poured over miki or fresh noodles. While it’s called mami similar to those served in carinderias, it tastes like no other. Perhaps it is the generous toppings of bagnet chicharon cracked from pork rinds as huge as a bilao. Only in Batac.
Only in Lucban, Quezon, is Pancit Habhab served in banana leaves shaped like a funnel. It is not eaten with spoon and fork, instead held by the hand, tilted towards the mouth and slurped down.
In front of the San Luis Obispo de Tolosa church at the center of town, slices of pork belly, pig liver, and vegetables are stir-fried with thick dry Lucban miki in a large wok and served with a sprinkling of cane vinegar.
Farther south, about 50 kilometers from Mayon Volcano is Bato town, its lake home to the sinarapan, the world's smallest commercially harvested fish and found nowhere else. So is Pancit Bato, made only in this Camarines Sur and nowhere else.
The sun-dried egg noodles, the color of yellow, are cooked in a pork-and-shrimp broth. Served all over Bicol, many locals often pour adobo sauce over the dish and top it with a generous amount of, what else, sili.
These are just some of the oodles of noodles in the Philippines, at least 101 versions in Luzon alone.
“They all differ in characteristics and significance, but each dish contributes to the context of the community’s story and cultural values,” says Jame Monren T. Mercado of the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Mercado is to be envied. He and Avi Ben P. Andalecio of the UST College of Tourism and Hospitality Management and the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education have conducted scientific research—culinary tour, if you will—of the twists and turns of the noodle landscape. Their takeout, “Ysla de Panciteria,” is published in the Journal of Ethnic Foods.
Pancit or pansit comes from two Chinese words: pan which means “to cook rice or make noodles” and sit, referring to “food” or “meal.” The first panciterias sprouted from Binondo, the world’s oldest Chinatown dating back to 1594.
Jose Rizal describes pancit in El Filibusterismo in one setting (in Chapter 25), the Panciteria Macanista de Buen Gusto (Macao Good Taste Restaurant) in Binondo. The characters were having noodle soup which Rizal described as “made with mushrooms, prawns or shrimps, beaten egg, rice noodles, chicken and God knows what else!”
There’s pancit bihon, canton and sotanghon. With a sauce, it becomes pansit luglug where it is flavored with katas ng hipon (shrimp juice) and sprinkled with tinapa (smoked fish). It is stir-fried or soup-based like mami or lomi.
Most are dried but in Cagayan, fresh noodles are used for Pancit Batil Patongor Pancit Cabagan. Fresh miki goes into Batangas lomi, Pancit Choko en su Tinta in Cavite City, Pancit Habhab in Quezon province, and Pancit Bato in Bicol.
In Bulacan province, with a robust fishing industry, Pancit Malabon has a rich seafood flavor.
There are now instant ramen for the masses, from Lucky Me, Nissin Yakisoba, and Quickchow to the more recent and upscale Japanese and Korean variants and Italian pasta in between.
The National Capital Region has 45 pancit dishes, the highest number in Luzon. Manila City alone has 31 dishes, from Alimango Sotangon, Duck Misua, and Chinese Herb Soup, to Pata Bihon, Tomato Bihon and Tostado Bihon.
Next in number is Southern Luzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) with 23 pancit dishes.
The recipes are many. Beneath the luscious broth, a bowl of Abra Miki consists of miki noodles, annatto powder, boiled eggs, pork jowl (rorog), deep-fried pork intestine, and spring onions.
Pancit is called by as many names as the servings. In Ilocos Sur: Pancit Musiko. Cagayan: Miki Nilad-dit and Sinanta. Ilocos Norte: Hibol and Pancit Lusay. Nueva Ecija: Pancit Kanin. Tarlac: Pancit Anao.
There’s Batchoy Tagalog, Pancit Alanganin, Pancit Hagonoy and Pancit Papaya in Bulacan. Pancit Cupang and Spabok are served in Bataan.
Laguna has Pancit Ulam, Pancit Kalabuko, Pancit Maciang, Pancit Grade 1, and Mikelo. Batangas serves Pancit Tikyano and Pancit ni Mang Biko.
Cavite: Almonigas, Pancit Puso, Pansate, Pancit Kilawin, Calandracas, and Pancit Estacion (served near a long-gone train station).
Quezon has Chami and Rizal boasts Laksa and Pancit Palengke. Albay has its Pancit Bicol Express; Camarines Sur, the Pancit Inulas and Pancit Kinalas.
The Chao Long noodles of Puerto Princesa were introduced by Vietnamese refugees during the Boat People migration after the Vietnam War in 1975. They introduced the thin rice paper with mint leaves and bean sprouts as ingredients.
Because not all ingredients are available always, alternatives are used. In Bulacan, a major rice producer, Pancit Marilao is known for its crunchy toppings of crushed rice okoy. Pancit Estacion in Cavite uses bean sprouts instead when flour noodles aren’t around.
Noodle factories spawned panciterias. The oldest noodle factories are Asiong and Haite in Ilocos Norte; Vigan Miki in Ilocos Sur, Luzon Mikki Mart in Quezon, Ka Charing and Moderna in Marinduque; and J. Sesgundo Pancit Factory in Camarines Sur.
The restaurant Balay Cena Una in Daraga, Albay, is known for its Pancit Bicol Express. It procures miki noodles only at the town public market.
In Boac, Marinduque, Chi Wing’s Canton Panciteria produces its own noodles, the recipe passed down from generation to generation. The same with lomi at the Panciteria de Lipa, in Batangas.
The country’s oldest panciterias are New Toho Food Center or Sin Ho Hing Restaurant (established 1880) and Masuki in Manila, Ma Mon Luk in Quezon City, Old Center Panciteria in Quezon province, and Chi Wing’s Canton Panciteria in Marinduque.
In Manila, the most famous panciterias are Nueva, Ilang-ilang, Rice Bowl, Siki, and San Jacinto and, true to its name, Panciteria Antigua, which is one of the first in the country and now the oldest.
Having finished a delectable treatise on the pancit of Luzon, Mercado and Andalecio are now looking at the popular Oriental noodles across the islands of Visayas and Mindanao.
