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
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 ...
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
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 ...
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
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 ...
, 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 ...
in
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