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.

- By PAUL M. ICAMINA

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.