Pancit Luglug is a Kapampangan noodle dish made of cornstarch noodles with vibrant orange savory sauce and loads of toppings. Perfect for any occasions or simply as merienda or snack.
What is Pancit Luglug?
Pancit Luglug is the Kapampangan version of Pancit Palabok. Like it, this saucy noodle dish has all the customary orange sauce and all the trimmings of ground pork, slices of hard-boiled eggs, shrimp, springs of onion, crushed chicharon and sometimes more.
Contrary to popular belief that Pancit Luglug normally uses thick noodles, that is actually not the case. Yes, thin noodles were also used traditionally. Cornstarch noodles is normally used instead of rice noodles.
The term "luglug" means to rinse or to wash. The dish got its local name because of the way it is served. Wherein the (precooked) noodles are placed on a strainer and plunged repeatedly in hot or boiling water before dumping them on a plate to be smothered with the sauce and various toppings.
Pancit Luglug, Pancit Palabok, and Pancit Malabon...
These three are all Filipino favorite noodle dishes and are often mistaken interchangeably as they look very similar. Same orange gravy sauce with lots of toppings and even the way they are cooked are fundamentally the same.
Here are some of their basic similarities and differences:
Origin of Name: Pancit Luglug was named after the traditional Kapampangan way of "rinsing" the noodles to cook or reheat it. Pancit Malabon is named after the place where it originated.
Noodle type: Pancit Luglug uses thick or thin cornstarch noodles while and Pancit Palabok normally uses thin rice noodles. On the other hand, Pancit Malabon uses thick rice or cornstarch noodles.
Sauce and Toppings: The three noodle dishes have similar sauce and toppings. But Pancit Malabon sauce has additional crab fat to it, sans the ground pork. It also adds some Chinese cabbage for toppings.
Presentation: Pancit Luglug and Pancit Palabok are served with their sauce poured at the top of the noodles. Unlike the two, Pancit Malabon is served with its sauce pre-mixed.
How to cook pancit Luglug?
Normally each main component is cooked separately. Noodles are parboiled and then reheated in hot or boiling water when ready to serve. Shrimp and other toppings that need cooking are also done ahead, the same thing with the sauce.
Once all is prepared, you can either assemble it in a big "bilao", a handwoven, round, flat, basket, that is traditionally used for serving Pancit that is still being used even to this day. Or serve it to individual plates.
First, dip the precooked noodles in boiling water several times using a blanching basket.
Transfer noodles with a plate. Next comes the sauce poured on top of the noodles. Sprinkle some crushed pork rind and shredded smoked fish. Add the shrimp and hard-boiled egg on top and the garnish with brown garlic and green onions. Last but not least, squeeze a calamansi or two before serving.
This elaborately constructed noodle dish should then be tossed together to mix each component and fuse the flavors together.
Other Filipino Noodles to Try:
- Pancit Canton - stir-fried noodles made from wheat-flour egg noodles (flour sticks)
- Pancit Bihon Guisado- stir-fry rice noodles with meat and veggies
- Palabok
- Sotanghon - Vermicelli noodles in chicken soup
Pancit Luglug Easy Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 grams Pancit Luglug noodles
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 12 pieces large prawns - shelled and deveined
- 3 cloves garlic -minced
- 1 medium onion -chopped
- 250 grams ground pork
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 5 cups water
- ½ cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Annatto/Achuete powder
- 1 piece shrimp cube
- 1 cup pork rind (chicharon) -crushed
- 1 cup smoked fish (tinapa) -shredded
- 4 pieces hard-boiled eggs -each cut into quarters
- 1 cup green onions -chopped
- ¼ cup toasted garlic
- 8 pieces calamansi - cut into halves
Instructions
- Cook Pancit Luglug noodles as per package instruction. You may also soak the noodles a few minutes before boiling to fasten the process.
- In a pot or large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the prawn and cook for a minute or until the color turns opaque and pink. Remove from oil and cut each piece into half, lengthwise and set aside.
- In the same oil, saute the garlic and onion until limp and aromatic. Add the ground pork and season with fish sauce and pepper. Cook until no longer pink while stirring and pressing to break up the lumps.
- While pork is cooking, take a bowl and dissolve the flour and achuete powder in 1 cup of water. Set aside.
- Once the pork is cooked, add 4 cups of water and the shrimp cube. Bring water to a soft boil.
- Gradually pour in the flour-achuete mixture into the pot while stirring continuously to avoid lumps to form. Simmer until sauce becomes thick while stirring from time to time to prevent the sauce from burning.
- Divide the noodles accordingly into the serving plates. Pour a generous amount of sauce on top of the noodles. Sprinkle with crushed chicharon and shredded tinapa. Add 2 quarters of hard-boiled egg and 3 slices of prawns. Finish off with some toasted garlic and chopped green onions. Serve with calamansi.
Harold says
12 prawns for 8 servings.. that's not very equitable, some will get 2 others just 1. Why not just 8 prawns or 16 prawns. I can imagine mother-in-law mistakenly getting 1 shrimp while someone else has 2, lol. Otherwise looks really good.
P.S. you did put 8 calamansi
Bebs says
Hahaha! You've got a very good point, Harold. But maybe some member of the family does not like shrimp (like Armin) or is allergic to it, like my brother-in-law. So you see it balances out in the end. And, us being Pinoy, I am pretty sure there will always be 1 shrimp left.😉
Ann says
What is the difference between Pancit Luglug and Pancit Palabok? What about Pancit Malabon?
Bebs says
Hi Ann...your question was answered in the article above.