Friday, December 4, 2009

MAMI KEN SIOPAO

T he best mami and siopao can be found in the original Ma Mon Luk at Quezon Blvd. corner Banawe, according to my tastebuds tester.
There were so many stories that circulated regarding the siopao filling. I will not even go into that or even patronize these haka-haka since none of these were true.
We grew up having our Sunday or Saturday "kain sa labas " specials at the Ma Mon Luk Restaurant. We will all troop to this place & order the piping hot mami smothered with green onions and fried garlic. Tig-isa kami ng siopao - asado ha?
The aroma of the mami stayed in my subconscious kaya kahit kowloon o LingNam kaya hindi pwedeng pumantay.
Talagang napan ak nangaldaw idiay Ma Mon Luk at Banawe. Surprisingly, the building and its innards still remain the same. Wala pa ring air-con sa loob at puro ceiling fans ang umaandar. The picture of the elderly Ma Mon Luk was still at that wall. Ganoon pa rin ang itsura - wala talagang nabago.
Since it was lunch time, napakaraming mga Intsik ang andoon para kumain. Lahat ng uri ng mga Pinoy ay andoon. From the mamang tsuper ng taxi, yong nagbebenta ng yosi (sigarilyo) to the students and business men na naka-Barong - all of us became same-o same-o (pare-pareho) sa harapan ng mami at siopao ng Ma Mon Luk.
This is the mami that I chowed on. Napakalinamnam. In between the paghigop ng sabaw, I took bites of my asado siopao. I did not peel off the first dough layer. Sabi nila noon, marumi raw ito since hinahawakan ng mga nagluluto. Di bale na - this is actually one of the malasa part of the siopao. The trick into eating this hearty meal, sabi ni Cecil at Jojo, lagyan daw ng siopao sauce yong mami para lalo sumarap.

I wanted to savor my mami in its glory kaya the sauce just stayed with the siopao. Umapaw yong sauce pero talaga naman - this is the version of the finger licking good na sarap. Enjoy!!!


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