Pancit Luglug Easy Recipe - Foxy Folksy (2024)

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

Printable Recipe

More Filipino Recipes