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| Pancit batil-patung @ Lamud's Panciteria, Tuguegarao City. |
2013. And I want my first blog entry of the new year to be more on and about pancit, the batil-patung variety of Tuguegarao City. This is to continue chronicling my own pancit escapades in the city and elsewhere in and out of Cagayan Valley. And yes, of course, I opted for a pancit post just for the heck that pancit denotes or assures longer life, more years to come, not for the blogger but moreso with this blog.
And so, I continue my batil-patung adventure to one of the most popular panciterias in Tuguegarao, the popularity not only it being one of the best batil-patung "promotor" but because of its trademarked "elusiveness," its being a recluse panciteria, literally, because Lamud's Panciteria is not readily visible, not even along the road or in the centro of the city, it's as if a kind of hideaway for a few batil-patung aficionados who wanted to enjoy their favorite pancit secretly, away from some gluttons who might attack and consume all the delicious pancit that's there and their's alone.
Like most panciterias in the city, Lamud's is almost unmarked, no signage whatsoever, so I didn't find its reported name ECP Panciteria written or painted. Lamud is it, its famous monicker of mouth. Lamud's is a typical panciteria which offers pancit in three servings with PhP10 differences that actually varies only on the quantity and quality of toppings (ground meat, liver, etc.)
What's truly different from among the equally popular panciterias in Tuguegarao is that Lamud's batil-patung is exclusively topped with freshly ground beef--not carabeef (nuang, carabao meat, which is the signature topping of most of the batil-patungs in Cagayan) or pork. According to the cook, their meat comes right from cows they exclusively slaughter on their own just for the pancit (he gestured me a nearby stable in the front yard with some cows masticating on dried corn hays).
While waiting for our PhP80-orders, I mixed in the obligatory chopped onions and calamansi, with soy sauce and fermented chili--and oh, they've got a chili oil even! I love the way the condiments are presented atop the tables, the hot chilis particularly not in the usual catsup bottles but plastic containers bound together in set of threes (with the soy sauce).
Our batil-patungs are served, and boy, it's heaping! The toppings are so generous it runneth over: sauteed/stir fried ground beef and cabbages and carrots, and of course, the signature egg. Makes the pancit-eater in you seems to have premature ejaculatory craving just by the way it looks and smells (the aroma is, of course, so overpoweringly beefy, distinct to the other batil-patungs with that traditional nuang scent) you just can't wait to take a bite at once.
But before anything else, I spiced up my batil-patung as is the ritual: with soy-onion-calamansi mixture and with chilis, fermented and in oil.
The devouring... Okey, I just love it, the beef, which separates this pancit among its peers in the city. What I found out is that the noodle, the miki, the pasta, is thinner than the other mikis used in other batil-patungans, and it's more like a canton both in appearance and more so in taste or flavor. This is my first time Lamud encounter so maybe I'll have yet to acquire a taste of it as I'm used to the others. Lamud's for me, for now anyway, is a pancit canton but with pancit batil patung toppings and condiments.
I'm not complaining, this pancit is so delicious, we finished our heaping plates clean up to the last morsel signifying our satisfaction. I'm convinced now and I understand why people keep on coming and spreading the news of Lamud's uniqueness--both on the pancit and the panciteria itself. I'll surely come again and indulge.
Try it, and tell us what you think. And oh, by the way, going to Lamud's is a little tricky, but just ask tricycle drivers in Tuguegarao City, most of them are familiar with it and know the way. But if you want a little adventure, try to find it yourself, it's at #79 Gunnacao St. in Brgy Cataggaman Nuevo. Just be cautious of the unpaved, gravelly one-lane alley going inside its compound.
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