Ilocos’s oldest ‘panciteria’ owes life to homemade noodles

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—Homemade noodles are the signature ingredients that have helped ensure the longevity of the oldest panciteria in this so-called City of Lights.  Milled from yellow monggo grains and mashed with egg yolk and starch, the noodles are cut into long strips and sun-dried, ensuring the swarm of customers buying the noodles for the past half-century.

As pancit (noodle) in the ancient Chinese tradition suggests long life, so it is with La Moda, a restaurant started way back in the 1950s by a Chinese family from Canton, China. Many believe the famous and delicious pancit canton of today must have derived its name from the ancient Chinese city.

La Moda owner Evelyn Dayoan Gee, who inherited the business from her husband’s family, said she started managing the business in 1989 and renamed it as “New La Moda Panciteria.” Now 69, Evelyn, a native of Sinait, Ilocos Sur, raised in the traditional tightwad trait of the Ilocanos, admits that La Moda owes much its  lingering popularity to the  Gee patriarch’s Chinese way of preparing the delicacy.

“My late husband didn’t want me to manage the business because, at that time, it was not doing well. It was going bankrupt,” she said. But for love of the business, Gee used her retirement pay from years of teaching and a small loan from relatives to revive the business.

Her children are now managing the noodle factory and the panciteria.

“I have the urge to maintain the legacy of my late father-in-law which is the taste of the La Moda Pancit which became very popular to all Ilocanos here and even abroad,” Gee said.

The crispy noodle which is made of wheat flour, egg and some secret ingredients, has become a favorite of both locals and those who have gone abroad who continue to patronize the restaurant whenever they visit the Ilocos. “The noodle can be eaten uncooked since it is deep-fried. It is healthy and has no preservative. Many people turn to it as chicha food during conversations,” Gee said.

The restaurant’s best seller is the “La Moda pancit canton guisado in bilao” which comes in small, medium and large sizes.

Now along Paco Roman, just a few meters from the provincial capitol, the panciteria also offers a variety of Ilocano and Chinese dishes like pork shanghai, bagnet, pancit bihon, chopsuey, crispy fried chicken and misua noodle soup, among others.

“The noodle business brings our family a security and a legacy that my children—Ricky, Giovanny and Dino—and even their children can be proud of as Ilocanos,” Gee said.