Lomi or pancit

lomi Lomi or pancit lomi (Hokkien: /便食滷麵; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ló͘-mī/piān-si̍t ló͘-mī) is a Filipino dish made with a variety of thick fresh egg noodles of about a quarter of an inch in diameter, soaked in lye water to give it more texture. ...

(

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

: /便食滷麵;

Pe̍h-ōe-jī (; ; ), also sometimes known as the Church Romanization, is an orthography used to write variants of Southern Min Chinese, particularly Taiwanese and Amoy Hokkien. Developed by Western missionaries working among the Chinese diaspora in South ...

: ló͘-mī/piān-si̍t ló͘-mī) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

dish made with a variety of thick fresh egg noodles of about a quarter of an inch in diameter, soaked in

lye A lye is a metal hydroxide traditionally obtained by leaching wood ashes, or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. "Lye" most commonly refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been us ...

water to give it more texture. Because of its popularity at least in the eastern part of

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and La ...

, there are as many styles of cooking lomi as there are

eateries A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appear ...

, ''

panciteria Pancit ( ), also spelled pansít, is a general term referring to various traditional noodle dishes in Filipino cuisine. There are numerous types of pancit, often named based on the noodles used, method of cooking, place of origin, or the ingre ...

s'' or

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s offering the dish. Variations in recipes and quality are therefore very common.

Recipe

Small portions of meat (usually pork, sometimes chicken) and pork liver, are thinly sliced then sauteed with

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

and

shallots The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with ''Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the d ...

. It is then cooked until tender. Next, salt, finely ground

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

and other

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Ho ...

s are added at this point. Then

soup stock Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes particularly soups, stews, and sauces. Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an ...

is added to prepare the broth. Next the lomi noodle and chopped cabbage is added. While waiting for the noodles to cook, a mixture of

cornstarch Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or soups, ...

flour blended with a small amount of water is added to thicken the soup. Finally, just before the whole mixture is transferred to individual bowls, a beaten egg is added as the cook continuously stirs to complete the basic dish. Toppings include slices of ''kikiam'' (''que-kiam''), fish balls, sliced chives, cooked shrimp, and some meatballs. Sometimes stir-fried ground meat (pork or chicken), as well as coarsely ground garlic roasted to golden brown are also available. Lomi is typically cooked using a deep

wok A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as ...

on LPG gas stove. About 9–10 minutes is the cooking time for a single serving of lomi.

Consumption

Lomi is best eaten while steaming hot. It is a challenge to finish eating before the bowl gets cold. To spice up the taste, depending on one's preference, a mixture of

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

, fish sauce, kalamansi juice and crushed fresh red

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

s can be added to the dish as a condiment. The same soy sauce mixture can also be used as a dipping sauce for the meatballs, Other lomi patrons request a small amount of finely chopped fresh red onions to be eaten with the dish for extra pungency.

Availability

''Lomi haus'' or ''lomián'', ''panciteria'',

eatery A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...

, ''carinderia'',

or their combination (e.g., lomi haus and eatery) are the most common terms used in Batangas to refer to a food establishment where lomi is served or eaten. A ''lomi haus'' specializes in lomi and other pancit dishes made of fresh egg noodles called ''miki''. It may also serve other pancit dishes, such as pancit guisado, bihon, miki-bihon, chami, pancit canton, sotanghon and others if available. A ''panciteria'' has a more extensive menu of pancit dishes. It serves lomi and other pancit dishes such as pancit guisado, bihon, mike-bihon, chami, pancit canton, sotanghon and others. Rice meals, viands and other made-to-order dishes may also be served here if available. An ''eatery'' or ''carinderia'' or ''restaurant'' principally serves rice meals, viands and other made-to-order dishes that may or may not include lomi. In eastern Batangas, lomi will always be included in the menu, however. Other names used, though infrequently, for food establishments where lomi may be served are ''luncheonette'' and ''fast food center''.

References

{{Soups Philippine noodle dishes Noodle soups

Recipe

Consumption

Availability

See also

References