The story
Pancit Malabon comes from Malabon, an old fishing town on the northern edge of Manila. Pancit, meaning noodles, came to the Philippines with Chinese traders and settlers, and Malabon gave the idea a seafood twist. Local history credits Yolalia Delos Santos, a Malabon native, with an 1880s dish called pancit labong, made with strips of bamboo shoot instead of noodles. Her descendants later switched to thick rice noodles in an orange sauce of annatto, shrimp stock and crab fat, piled with squid, oysters, mussels, shrimp and egg. Manila's film stars are said to have made it a fashionable snack, and it spread nationwide.
Also known as pansit Malabon, Malabon noodles.
On the Meridish menu
Pancit Malabon was the rice & noodles course on menu No. 28 on October 28, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Thick rice noodles in an orange shrimp and crab-fat sauce, heaped with squid, oysters and egg. It comes from an old fishing town at the edge of a capital.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancit_Malabon
- sbs.com.au/language/filipino/en/article/how-did-a-town-called-malabon-become-known-for-pansit/v5opzdny9
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
