AN ODE TO CHAMI

A lot of my friends have been hounding me with this question, What is it with chami that makes me swoon, salivate, drool over it?  It is in fact a very basic food, stir fried mixes of meat, vegetables and noodles sometimes mixed with quail eggs and chicharon.  But for me it brings back sweet memories of happy times and great company of friends and family. It is not the chami, per se, that makes me drool all over it. It is the thought that the taste brings all over me a chance to relive a past and a perhaps a wish that someday soon, everything will be alright. As life is a cycle, I know that I will again experience the joy and pleasure of being in company with people who shared the same sentiments about this food.

                Chami, like rice, is a staple food in my family. Yes, the entire Ka Ponyong clan is just plain crazy about this food. In every gathering when we are in Lucena, there never was a time when we all forget or forego ordering this food.  There are only two chami restaurant we patronize back in Lucena, Plaza Food and Granja Panciteria. Depending on our mood or budget, decision is made by the entire clan. Granja Panciteria is quite near our place and since the owner is my departed sister’s friend, we can order there and have it delivered right to our doorsteps. Plaza Food, on the other hand, is owned by our neighbor. And they know for a fact that our entire clan is just plain crazy about their version. We sometimes order from them to-go, but their version is best eaten there in their restaurant. To compare, Plaza Food wins hands down if you order it after lunch because it tastes better. Perhaps their meat stock is well cooked by then.

                During the course of my life on earth, I’ve tasted all sort of chami. In high school, I would buy a home-cooked chami near our place. The kind where there is no other ingredient aside from the meat of a pig’s head and some vegetables. Most pale in comparison with the two aforementioned restaurants except for two. Mang Goring’s is your typical hole in the wall eatery frequented by tricycle drivers and other blue collar workers. Be there after three in the afternoon, and you have to wait for your turn.

The other one is the chami of my teens. I think it is called Doring’s Carinderia, located just opposite Granja Panciteria before it became Granja Panciteria.  This is the place that brings the sweetest memories about chami. My father would come home weekly when he was assigned from far flung provinces and one of his ritual when he comes home is bring home fried chicken and then ask me to buy chami from Doring’s carinderia.  Then, together as a family, we would consume the food while discussing and bonding the past week and latest updates in our lives.

There is also the version when I was in college, another hole in the wall near my friend’s house. Mang Ricky’s version is a bit spicy but that didn’t stop us from ordering from him. Because every chance we order and feast on his concoction, is a chance to bond with my friends after we sing our hearts out in the then quite popular karaoke machine. Every Monday, we find ourselves at Dimsum house ordering their version.  This time partnered with their Siopao Jumbo. Why Monday? Because we just received our allowances for the week and just like any teens, we were all one day millionaires and chami is on top of our lists of things to splurge on.

As life’s destiny takes me to various places, I have often crave for chami. Most are plain copycats with taste far from the chami that I’ve grown to love. I’ve even tried the instant kind but it just makes me long for the chami that I desire.

Some friends asked me why chami? Why not pancit habhab? Because I believe I am a chami person. I think I may consider myself a chami connoisseur.

Chami, for me, is an icon, a simple food that brings memories of bygone days. Like its ingredients and no hassle cooking, it is a reminder of a time when things where simple and innocent. When we revel on humble things yet it matters so much. When problems seem like so easy to carry.

Today, when I visit Lucena, I still order this food. I savor every strand reminiscing on modest times and my home coming seems incomplete without it.

As I enjoy its simplicity, I say to myself – I AM HOME.