[CULTURE: Food] History and Origin of Batangas Lomi

“Lomi” is just one of many noodle dishes called pancit (alternatively spelled, pansit) that have become part of Filipino cuisine. The word pancit is likely of Hokkien origin and loosely means “convenient food¹.” The word “lomi,” meanwhile, sounds suspiciously close to the to the Chinese Hokkien noodle dish “lor mee,” a dish of “a noodle disk from Zhangzhou served in a thick starchy gravy... Variants of the dish are also eaten by Hokkiens in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand².”

In the Philippines, lor mee is called “lomi.” Since the sound “r” is not phonetically present in the Chinese languages as those in the west will recognize it, Hokkiens would have pronounced it as “loh-mi.” To the Filipino ear, that would have simply sounded as “lomi.”

Among the more notable variants of the pancit lomi is that which has become known as “Batangas lomi,” although this type of lomi was first introduced and initially became increasingly popular in the City of Lipa. What notably sets the Batangas “lomi” apart from other variants is the absence of vegetables.

This is probably because the original recipe for the “lomi” first created in Lipa included “home-made noodles, meatballs, slices of pork, liver and quekiam ^{3 | 4},” but none of the vegetables one finds in other versions of Filipino lomi. Even the copycats who started offering “lomi” in their own restaurants stuck to the basic recipe, so it was without vegetables that this noodle dish started to grow in popularity.

The creation of the “lomi” is attributed to the immigrant To Kim Eng, originally from southern China but who had settled and raised a family in the city of Lipa. To Kim Eng loved playing mah-jong with friends and in the late 1960’s began serving this new noodle dish he called the “lomi.” Word about the noodle dish started to circulate by word of mouth so that before long, To Kim Eng started receiving orders not only for “lomi” but also for other noodle dishes. In 1968, he and his wife Natalia decided to open the restaurant Lipa Panciteria⁵. Up to the present day, the panciteria⁶ is considered by some as the cathedral of the original “lomi.”

In the 1980’s, other panciterias offering lomi started building their own reputations for excellent “lomi” — Three Kids’ and Mr. Wok’s come to mind, among others — and these reputations grew merely by word-of-mouth. Because going to the “lomi haus⁷” would become as much a social as well as a culinary event, demand for “lomi” continued to grow and remain strong. “Lomi hauses” eventually became ubiquitous as they started sprouting in the garages of houses, in nipa shacks or in open yards.

In the city of Lipa, it came to the point that there was always a “lomi haus” not far from one’s home. The tastier one’s “lomi” was, the quicker and wider a “lomi haus’s” reputation spread, but naturally by word-of-mouth. A well-established reputation drew customers not only from far and wide but also from diverse social classes.

In the present day, probably because of the stiff competition, innovators have begun topping “lomi” with ingredients not found in the original version of lomi — anything from fried chicken to pork rebusado or, perhaps, chicharon⁸. “Lomi” joints can be found not only in just about every neighborhood in Lipa but also in other towns of Batangas as well — and even as far as Metro Manila, where enterprising Batangueños make sure the beloved “lomi” is never far away from fellow Batangueños who have made their homes in the Big City.

Just please, no vegetables.