🇵🇭 Philippines · La Paz district, Iloilo City, Philippines
La Paz batchoyFilipino pork noodle soup
A noodle soup of Iloilo: fresh wheat noodles (miki) in a rich pork-bone broth, topped with pork, liver and other pork cuts, chicharron, garlic and spring onion, with the broth seasoned with ginamos (shrimp paste).
Origin and history
Batchoy takes its name from the district of La Paz in Iloilo City. The Inggo family account says Domingo "Inggo" Lozada began selling the soup in 1921 on Luna Street in La Paz, inspired by the meatball dish bas-oy; another account dates his invention to 1920 and credits Chinese soup peddlers, so no single story is treated as settled. Lozada was honoured in 1984 as an Outstanding Pioneer in Batchoy Food Products. A University of the Philippines policy brief has examined a geographical indication for La Paz batchoy.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 2 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 45 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb pork bones, with some meat, blanched 5 minutes and rinsed
- 500 g1.1 lb pork shoulder or loin, in one piece
- 250 g9 oz pork liver, in one piece
- 3 L12 cups water
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 tbsp ginamos (fermented shrimp paste, or bagoong alamang), see steps
- 2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 500 g1.1 lb fresh miki noodles (fresh egg wheat noodles)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced and fried until golden
- 1 cup chicharron (pork cracklings), crushed
- 4 spring onions, sliced thin
Method
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1. Cover the blanched bones, pork shoulder and onion with the water. Bring to a boil, skim carefully, and simmer 1 hour 15 minutes.
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2. Add the liver for the last 10 minutes only, until just cooked through. Lift out the pork shoulder and liver, cool, then slice both into thin strips.
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3. Mix the ginamos with a ladle of the hot broth in a small pot and simmer gently 30 minutes. Let it settle, then pour only the clear liquid on top into the stock, leaving the solids behind.
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4. Season the stock with fish sauce and pepper. Keep it at a gentle simmer; it should taste rich but clean, with only a trace of shrimp.
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5. Fry the minced garlic in a little oil until golden and crisp.
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6. Blanch the miki 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water and divide it among bowls.
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7. Top with the sliced pork and liver, ladle hot broth over, and finish with fried garlic, chicharron and spring onion. Serve immediately.
Notes
- The distinguishing marks are the use of miki noodles, the pork and offal topping and a restrained amount of ginamos, used only as a clear seasoning. Over-using it makes a strongly fishy, cloudy broth.
- Miki is a fresh egg and wheat noodle; fresh ramen or lo mein-style egg noodles are the nearest substitute.
- Other cuts that appear in Iloilo bowls include pork intestine, and some vendors add beef or a raw egg cracked into the hot bowl; this version uses pork and liver only. Overcooked liver turns grainy, so add it near the end.
- It is not the same dish as Batchoy Tagalog, which is documented with pork blood, ginger and miswa noodles rather than Iloilo's clear broth.
- Make-ahead: the stock and ginamos infusion keep two days; blanch the noodles at the last moment.
Adapted from Delish.ph, La Paz batchoy history, Iloilo Today, History of Inggo's La Paz batchoy, and Panlasang Pinoy, Batchoy.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.