Abra Pancit Miki is a Good Cause: Here’s Why
It took me a while to realize and to get it to my mouth but now I have found the best word.
Abra is known for its different food products such as Chicharron, Bagnet, and Lechon which are produced by the creative and hardworking people of the province. Among the various food of Abra, Pancit Miki made the greatest good impression to me. It is one of their popular local cuisines. It is enjoyed by many people because of its unique broth which others cannot cook the same and the toppings are also the product of the province, Bagnet, and chicharron. The noodles used in Pancit Miki are called “linaddit” which are made by the Abrenians themselves.
According to the knowledge of oldies in our province, Austodillo’s Pancitan was the first that sold pancit Miki. And now, the product is also introduced in many different places outside the province like Candon, Manila, Baguio and many more.
Auguste Escoffier quoted that “Good food is the basis of true happiness”, which I agreed because Abra Miki brings me home. The dish’s look makes me hungry and excited with its orange soup colored by annatto seeds or “astsuete”, and the additional hard-boiled egg and the shredded toppings made it extra special. It always tastes great especially when I add spices such a small amount of chili oil and calamansi. The process of eating the dish causes a multiple textures from the hot thick soup to the soft noodles to the crunchy toppings.
Digesting Abra Miki reminds me of the warm feelings and good memories with my family. As I live away from home, it’s the food that keeps the ties between us. It takes me back to the times that my mother will cook pancit Miki to serve breakfast or merienda and the smell came from our neighbors who were cooking the same dish for a celebration like a birthday, a merienda after the offering of prayers (walo), new year, and such.
The cooking of Abra Miki is passed through generation to generation because continuing to make dishes inherited from family is a symbol of pride for ethnicity and a means of coping homesickness. That is why currently, Abra Miki is found in many different food courts in the province and also in other eateries and businesses outside Abra that are offering Ilocano dishes that somehow was established by the natives of the province.
Abra is celebrating its Miki Festival from the 19th to the 27th day of February every year. This is to promote and to preserve our culture because the laddit Miki of Abra signifies the unity and harmonious relationship of people which are the traits that bind every Abrenian as one province, one community, and one family.
I treated myself a week ago to one restaurant here in Baguio that is offering Abra dishes, I ordered Abra Miki and it was a kind of satisfying. To taste the famous and unique recipe of laddit Miki of my province and to feel that it brought me home is already a deep and genuine kind of happiness.