A Classic Noodle Dish from Cebu

Appears in
Memories of Philippine Kitchens
Memories of Philippine Kitchens

By Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan

Published 2006

  • About
Mona and Carlos Lu, along with their children, were longtime Cendrillon regulars since we opened in 1995. When Mona Lu came to the United States from Manila in 1989, her mother, Tata Sing (Resing Luyao Corcuera), followed, as Mona was expecting her second child at the time. Between Tata Sing and Yaya (Lourdes Ebon), Mona’s trusted nanny and cook, a great collaboration of minds and cooking talent ensued. Tata Sing taught this classic Cebuano noodle dish to Yaya.

Yaya helped raised Mona’s three children in Connecticut, and has proven to be a wonderful cook. Mona discovered that Yaya’s father, Mang Demit (short for Demetrio), was a famous cook who was hired from town to town when fiestas were celebrated in Antique, Panay. These days, Yaya is constantly requested by Mona’s friends to cook their favorite Filipino dishes, but Tata Sing’s Bam-i is the dish that has made her famous. Bam-i is a Visayan derivation of the Hokkien words ba, which means meat, and mee, noodles. According to Mona, when the children’s friends visit their home in Greenwich, they refuse to go home without a baon, or doggy bag, of leftover Bam-i.