SOMEWHERE in Binondo, in an upstairs room, mami noodles are still made fresh the old way every day. Dough is made from flour, water and egg, and kneaded with the use of a long rolling pin--so long in fact that you can ride on one end literally, which is what the workers at that restaurant, Masuki, do every day. Willen Ma, who oversees this family business started by her father in the sixties, says they call the rolling pin kabayo, the Filipino word for horse, since workers have to ride that long rolling pin to knead the dough.
Why have they not upgraded to a more modern way of doing things? Willen says this old-style method is what gives their mami noodles the makunat texture. "If we do it by machine, they will come out with a fine texture. Customers can tell the difference. Lagot kami."
Some 200 kilos of mami noodles are made here every day at Masuki, and these are sliced by machine after the kneading with the kabayo. The noodles are served at Masuki restaurants in Binondo and Greenhills, and are also supplied to institutional customers.
It has been more than 40 years and Masuki is still around. Willen, named one of the inspiring women entrepreneurs by GoNegosyo, says their secrets just boil down to the quality of food and service. The menu is still the same, and they make sure the mami, asado chicken, tai pao, siomai, and siopao remain consistent in quality.
And they plan to uphold the same consistent quality of food throughout the coming years. So if that means still doing the kneading kabayo-style, then kabayo-style it is. Some things you don't just change.
