City of Malabon is one of the cities and municipalities in the Philippines that make up Metro Manila. Located just north of Manila, the city has a population of approximately 340,000. It is primarily a residential and industrial town and is one of the most densely populated cities in the metropolis.

Malabon is part of the sub-region of Metro Manila informally called CAMANAVA. CAMANAVA consists of Caloocan City, Malabon City, Navotas City, and Valenzuela City. Caloocan lies to the south and east, Navotas to the west, and Valenzuela to the north. Malabon also borders the town of Obando in the province of Bulacan to the northwest.

Originally called the town of Tambobong, Malabon was founded as a “Visita” of Tondo by the Augustinian friars on May 21, 1599 and remained under the administrative jurisdiction of the province of Tondo from 1627 to 1688. Malabon was officially made a municipality of the newly-created province of Rizal on June 11, 1901 by virtue of Philippine Commission Act 137.

When Philippine Commission Act 942 was promulgated, Malabon was merged with Navotas under a new government. On January 16, 1906, Philippine Commission Act 1441 separated Malabon from Navotas into two distinct municipalities of the Rizal province.

For 70 years, Malabon was a municipality of Rizal, until November 7, 1975, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 824, when Malabon became a part of Metropolitan Manila or the National Capital Region.

Malabon became a city on April 21, 2001.
Malabon also known as "City Water" during Raining Season, Bring out your Boat

Richard Bautista, prime mover in the preservation of the Malabon’s historical structures and Monchet Lucas (whose family owns famed Rufina Patis factory) sponsored a “Lusong Malabon,” tour of the “treasures”: century-old houses in the city especially in Concepcion, which endured time and tide. Richard stated: “Most of the old houses were originally three-story structures, but because of the constant flooding, their ground floors have become useless as these are always submerged in water; tourists travel all the way to the northern part of Luzon to see old houses when we have them here in Metro Manila.” Considered city treasures, inter alia, are: the Dionisio family home, 1920, in Gen. Luna Street, the Martinez house, the 1923 Rojas-Borja house, one of the best preserved, and the 1861 Raymundo house, considered the oldest

Ooh, yummy! I can imagine the taste and smell of this pancit malabon… nakakagutom…

 picture of pancit malabon, of course originating from Malabon City where else.

Pancit, a common dish of stir-fried noodles, fits right in with the Filipino palate, cuisine and diverse culture.

There is that pancit habhab from Lukban, Quezon.

Lukban, Quezon is famous for the Pahiyas Festival. When it comes to food, the Pancit Habhab has been synonymous with this province. Tourists are willing to travel to this place so they can partake of this wonderful, local specialty food.

Pancit Habhab is a local delicacy of sautéed noodles mixed with chopped pork, shrimps and vegetables. Mixed with just the right amount of onion and garlic, and you already have a complete and filling meal. What adds excitement to eating Pancit Habhab is the fact that it is eaten without using any utensils of any kind. To truly enjoy the noodles, it is placed on a rectangular banana leaf and you must eat using only your mouth. Hence you must be careful as not to spill some on your clothes. It is recommended that Pancit Habhab should be sprinkled with some vinegar to enhance its taste.

And of course, we have pancit palabok, pancit bihon, pancit canton, pancit luglog, pancit miki, bihon guisado, sotanghon guisado, and even miswa.

We are a REPUBLIC OF PANCIT, as Nancy Lumen pointed out. And we just love to concoct all different sorts of varieties and ingredients to make the plain noodle into a cuisine. Gosh, we even use the packaged ramen noodles to quickly cook a dish with a few leftover meat, a few slices of vegetables, soy sauce, calamansi juice, and viola! Food is served!

The word “pancit” was derived from the Hokkien “pian i sit” to mean “something conveniently cooked fast”, which it really is! Eating pancit is also thought to make your life longer as noodles represent long life and good health as our Filipino-chinese brothers taught us.

Now although pancit is traditionally made of either rice or egg noodles, a Filipina Soul reader actually submitted a really good “pastanghon” made from.. you guessed it - pasta! It’s pinoy cooking with Italian flair.