Manila Times:
Circa 1970s: A trip to the market was an enjoyable treat. Besides buying practically everything from food, toys, household wares to personal needs, the market was also haven to whet one’s appetite. I remember eating to my heart’s content my favorite pansit palabok whenever my mother would tag me along in her marketing chores. Then there was also the array of Filipino native delicacies such as puto/kutsinta, dinuguan, halo-halo, sago/gulaman and kakanins like biko, butsi, palitaw, suman, ginataan and kalamay.
Until now, I can say that these all-time favorite fares sold and served in the traditional market were tastier and even more mouth-watering… At least to a wannabe food connoisseur and grade school lad like me back then. Move over fast food chains.
Good thing our kids today can still have the chance to savor the good-old recipes through specialty restaurants like Leoning’s Special Pansit Palabok/Luglug. The business actually started during the pre-war time, according to Dr. Estelita “Tita†Lomboy, who manages Leoning’s Food Services and Franchising Corp.
Leoning’s (Leonora Galguiera Angeles) mother, Juana, was famous in her barrio because of her special pansit palabok/luglug and native kakanin. During the Japanese Era, the business became more lucrative and highly patronized because of scarcity of food. Those days, the elders call the pansit, “luglug,†because of the process of cooking the noodles, which is, by soaking them for several minutes in boiling water.