Ma Wen-lu (), known in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as Ma Mon Luk (), was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

best known in the Philippines for his eponymous restaurant, and for being the alleged creator of mami (a noodle soup) and popularizer of

siopao ''Siopao'' (), is a Philippine steamed bun with various fillings. It is the indigenized version of the Fujianese ''baozi'', introduced to the Philippines by Hokkien immigrants during the Spanish colonial period. It is a popular snack in the Phi ...

(a steamed bun based on the cha siu bao).

Early life

Ma was born in 1896 in

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

(then known as Xiangshan, Canton) in

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

. Because of poverty, he was only able to finish junior high school. He self-studied in the

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

to improve himself. He later became a schoolteacher in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

but earned a lowly salary. In 1918, Ma left for the

to seek his fortune in order to win the hand of his sweetheart, Ng Shih, whose parents disapproved of him because of his poverty.

Ma Mon Luk

Arriving penniless in Binondo, Manila, Ma decided to peddle his own version of chicken noodle soup. He soon became a familiar sight on the streets of Manila, plodding from Puente de España (now

Jones Bridge The William A. Jones Memorial Bridge, commonly known as the Jones Bridge, is an arched girder bridge that spans the Pasig River in the City of Manila, Philippines. It is named after the United States legislator William Atkinson Jones, who served ...

) to as far as

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day I ...

and Santa Cruz with a long bamboo pole (''pingga'') slung on his shoulders and two metal containers on each end of the pole, similar to the equipment of '' taho'' vendors then and now. One vat contained his especially concocted noodles and strips of chicken meat, while the other vat stored the chicken broth heated underneath by live coals. With a pair of

scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutti ...

, he would cut the noodles and meat to serve to his customers. He called his concoction "''gupit''", after the Tagalog word for “cut”. He would finally name the dish “ Ma mi” (), literally meaning, "Ma’s noodles". Later, he would add

and

siomai ''Shumai'' () is a type of traditional Chinese dumpling. In Cantonese cuisine, it is usually served as a dim sum snack.Hsiung, Deh-Ta. Simonds, Nina. Lowe, Jason. 005(2005). The food of China: a journey for food lovers. Bay Books. . p 38. In ...

to his menu. However, the claim that Ma invented the ''mami'', which originates from the media company

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

, is likely untrue. According to linguist Gloria Chan-Yap, ''mami'' is derived from

Philippine Hokkien Philippine Hokkien is a dialect of the Hokkien language of the Southern Min branch, primarily spoken vernacularly by Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines, where it serves as the local Chinese ''lingua franca'', primarily spoken as an oral langu ...

''maq'' ("meat") and ''mi'' ("noodle") and is Fujianese in origin, not

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

. Like the

, the noodle dish already existed in

Filipino-Chinese cuisine Filipino Chinese cuisine is a style of Filipino cuisine influenced from Chinese cuisine. History Filipino cuisine is influenced principally by China and Spain have been integrated with pre-colonial indigenous Filipino cooking practices. In t ...

before Ma popularized his version. Ma became known as “Ma Mon Luk” and from a small shop along

Tomas Pinpin Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

Street in Binondo, Manila, he would open his first restaurant with the name “Ma Mon Luk Mami King” at the nearby 826-828 Salazar Street. He would promote his restaurant by giving away free samples of siopao. If he ran out of siopao samples, he would give his

business card Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business aff ...

with his

signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

at the back to signify a free bowl of mami at his restaurant. The restaurant would transfer to Calle Azcárraga (now

Recto Avenue Claro M. Recto Avenue, more popularly known as simply Recto Avenue, is the principal commercial thoroughfare in north-central Manila, Philippines. It spans seven districts just north of the Pasig River in what is generally considered Manila's o ...

) in 1948 and eventually move to 545

Quezon Boulevard Quezon Boulevard is a short stretch of highway in Manila, Philippines running north–south through the district of Quiapo. It is a six- to ten-lane divided boulevard designated as a component of National Route 170 (N170) of the Philippine hi ...

Quiapo, Manila Quiapo () is a district of the city of Manila, in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Referred to as the "Old Downtown of Manila", Quiapo is home to the Quiapo Church, where the feast of the Black Nazarene is held with millions of p ...

two years later, where it still exists. By the 1950s, Ma and his food were nationally known. With his success, Ma was able to return to China and seek the hand of his beloved Ng Shih. He would establish his family home and main restaurant at 408 Quezon Avenue in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

during the 1950s.

Death

Ma died on September 1, 1961, of throat cancer and is buried at the Chinese Cemetery in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Legacy

After Ma's death, his children (all surnamed “Mamonluk”) would continue the restaurant, expanding to as many as six branches in the 1980s. By the end of the 20th century, however, only the original two branches established by Ma would remain. The two remaining restaurants are currently operating under the family owned Ma Mon Luk International Corporation.Jose Victor Z. Torres, The Legend of Ma Mon Luk
''Rogue'', April 2017

References

External links

Ma Mon Luk Restaurant official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma Mon Luk 1896 births 1961 deaths Chinese emigrants to the Philippines Cantonese people Filipino restaurateurs Filipino chefs People from Binondo Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Deaths from esophageal cancer Burials at the Manila Chinese Cemetery