Daily TribuneA showstopping culinary highlight of the Bambanti Festival, Isabela’s largest-ever serving of pansi Cabagan brought together cooks from Cabagan’s to prepare a 250- to 300-kilo version of the beloved noodle dish.
A LARGE bilao-like vessel measuring 16 feet in diameter to hold the pansi Cabagan.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROEL HOANG MANIPON FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
COOKS prepare the pansi Cabagan on the spot.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROEL HOANG MANIPON FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
THE participants putting their pansi Cabagan into the giant vessel.
Isabela prepared its largest-ever serving of pansi Cabagan on 20 January, marking the third day of the Bambanti Festival. The iconic noodle dish of the province in northeastern Philippines weighed an estimated 250 to 300 kilos and was laid out in a massive bilao-like vessel measuring 16 feet in diameter.
According to Isabela provincial tourism officer Joanne Dy Maranan, this was the first time they attempted this feat for the eight-day festival, which promotes Isabela’s agriculture, tourism, food and heritage. The provincial government enlisted the help of Cabagan, where the dish originated, for this endeavor.
Cooks from the 26 barangays of the town, led by its mayor, Mila T. Albano-Mamauag, gathered at the Queen Isabela Park in provincial capital of Ilagan City to simultaneously prepare the dish, which consisted of 208 kilos of fresh miki noodles (made of wheat flour and egg), soy sauce, pork broth, carrots, cabbage and capsicum and toppings of lechon karahay, chicharon and boiled quail eggs.
Orlando Marayag, barangay captain of Cubag, shared that they have been preparing giant servings of pansi Cabagan yearly for their Pansi Festival, held around 20 to 25 January. The event highlights the noodle dish and forms part of the local government’s festivities for the Feast of Saint Paul the Apostle, the town’s patron saint, on 25 January. Pansi is the Ibanag term for “noodle,” equivalent to pansit in Filipino.
Marayag noted that the town usually prepares pansi in a bilao-like vessel measuring about ten feet in diameter. The Bambanti Festival version was significantly larger, making it perhaps the biggest serving of pansi Cabagan prepared in the country.
Aside from the cooking spectacle, the 20 January event also featured a pansi-eating contest. It was graced by Isabela governor Rodito Albano III, Isabela vice governor Francis Faustino “Kiko” A. Dy, and Department of Tourism regional director for the Cagayan Valley Region Troy Alexander Miano.
Festivalgoers and visitors alike were invited to partake of the beloved dish, turning the culinary feat into a shared moment of community pride and festivity.
Started in 1997, the Bambanti Festival is inspired by the scarecrow — bambanti in Ilocano — and pays tribute to the diligence and resilience of Isabela’s farmers. This year’s celebration ran from 18 to 25 January and featured a full slate of activities, including the Bambanti Village with its creative booths, the Queen Isabela beauty pageant, musical shows, the Makan ken Mainum cooking competition and the street dance and showdown competitions.
