 Chicken mami of Masuki restaurant | |
| Type | Soup |
|---|---|
| Course | Main course |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Region or state | Binondo,Manila |
| Created by | Ma Mon Luk |
| Invented | 1920 |
| Main ingredients | |
Mami (pronounced:MAH-mee) is a popularFilipinonoodle soup made withwheat flournoodles,broth and the addition of meat (chicken,beef,pork) orwonton dumplings. It is related to thepancit class of noodle dishes, and the noodles themselves are sometimes calledpancit mami.
Its creation is generally attributed toMa Mon Luk, aChineseimmigrant to the Philippines who began selling noodles served withchicken broth andchicken meat inBinondo,Manila in 1920. He originally worked as an ambulant vendor, carrying the food in two metal vats on a pole much liketaho vendors. Thus, mami was originallystreet food, but with the success of his business, Ma eventually opened up an eatery and ultimately a chain of restaurants bearing his name. As a street vendor, Ma originally called his dish "gupit", after theTagalog word for “cut”, because he would cut the noodles and chicken with scissors. He later decided to call the dish "Ma mi" (simplified Chinese:马面;traditional Chinese:馬麵;Cantonese Yale:Máh-mihn;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Má-mī;lit. 'Ma’s noodles'). However, Ma did not have the name trademarked. Soon, imitation noodle soups sprouted with a name that was, personally, his.[1][2][3][4]
Alternately,mami is thought to come frommanok (chicken) andmiki (a type of noodle).[1] This is supported by beef or porkmami sometimes being known asbami, frombaboy' (pork/pig) orbaka (beef/cow).
Regardless, the claim that Ma "invented"mami, both the dish itself and the term, is likely untrue. According to linguist Gloria Chan-Yap,mami isFujianese in origin, notCantonese; inPhilippine Hokkien literally means "meat noodles" (simplified Chinese:肉面;traditional Chinese:肉麵;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Mah-mī). Like thesiopao, the noodle dish already existed inFilipino-Chinese cuisine before Ma popularized his version.[5]
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