Tasted any good Pancit Molo lately? I surely had and thanks to one awesome afternoon at the Camiña Balay nga Bato in Arevalo. A perfect afternoon snack and gastronomic finale to Sir Eugene Jamerlan's guests, Anton Diaz (of Our Awesome Planet) and his wife, Rachelle. Even if we just had lunch , the aroma of the pancit Molo was so enticing that we wasted no time and enjoyed a bowl (actually we all had more than one) of Kapitan Ising's Pancit Molo.
Now who is Kapitan Ising? He's no longer the kapitan of his baranggay (South San Jose, I assume) as I was informed but he's still referred to as one. I only heard about Kapitan Ising Villanueva last month when Miss Luth Camiña ordered a lot of delights from him - fresh lumpia, panara and of course pancit Molo, during the shoot of My City, MY SM, My Cuisine. Maybe because of the hectic ambiance that I didn't really to appreciate the taste of the pancit Molo then. But now, we had it as leisurely as we could and every detail was captured, every moment was savoured and taste memories, preserved.
A minimum of order is worth PhP500 and it almost filled a big kaldero - for comparison, maybe 20 of that big cup. We actually didn't count the balls but there could be a hundred or so. That's PhP5 per Molo ball - good enough since you get a tasty soup made even more flavourful by chicken strips and skin (making it oily) and shrimp essence (giving the orange hue). They also make their own Molo wrapper - very thin and almost frail yet it still stays in form until you take in a spoonful. There you'll see and taste the difference - it slides down perfectly leaving no hints of floury taste, just the savoury taste of the Molo ball filling.
Though it was overwhelmed with black pepper that time, it was still hot even though the soup already warm. But nonetheless, it was still very delicious as each sip and bite burst with the real goodness of the homemade taste of pancit Molo. And I can't wait for another bowl ... no, a caldero more like it!
Kapitan Ising's homemade delights (the entrance to the side street) is located along San Jose Street in Molo near the Mill Hill Missionaries Central House. They can be reached through (033) 336-6106 for orders. Just ask around, almost everybody knows Kapitan Ising.