Isabela town cooks up giant ‘pancit’ at festival in honor of noodles

Villagers line up for a taste of a giant “Pansi Cabagan” served at the Pansi Festival in Cabagan, Isabela. VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.

CABAGAN, Isabela–Paying tribute to the thriving native noodle industry and the farmers’ bountiful harvest here, some 2,000 villagers on Thursday queued to get a taste of a giant “Pansi Cabagan.”

Pansi Cabagan is this town’s local version of pancit, a dish made of noodles whether wheat or rice, and had become a symbol of its culture and heritage, according to officials here.

“Pansi” is an Ibanag term for pancit and is considered as a “complete” local noodle dish by the locals.

At lunchtime on Thursday, a giant Pansi Cabagan was served to the villagers a part of the town’s week-long Pansi Festival.

The dish was placed in several native woven trays or baskets that were laid out at the Cabagan Square Park to form the numbers “2020,” referring to the current year.

Mayor Christopher Mamauag said official used the concept because the year 2020 ushers in a “new decade.”

Mamauag said since it is the Year of Rat, they believe the new year would bring good fortune to the villagers.

Villagers and restaurant owners helped prepare the dish using 200-kilograms of miki (thick noodles), 100-kg pork and fish, 200-piece quail eggs and chicken eggs, pork skin crackers, smoked fish, dried shrimps, tuna, squid strips and vegetables.

Organizers said the dish was gone in 30 minutes.

Edited by TSB