BATCHOY

 

BATCHOY

DINE-IN AND TAKE OUT PHP 35.00
WITH EGG ADD PHP 10.00

Batchoy, less commonly spelled batsoy, is a noodle soup made with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles.^[1][2] Its origins can be traced to the district of La Paz, Iloilo City in the Philippines, hence it is often referred to as La Paz Batchoy.

Origin[edit]

Batchoy's true origin is inconclusive. Documented accounts include the following:

• Ted's Oldtimer Lapaz Batchoy is the Philippine's largest Lapaz Batchoy chain with more than 20 outlets nationwide.
• Inggo's Batchoy opened his Batchoy stall in 1922 and rumored to be the real first batchoy shop in La Paz Iloilo City, 16 years Ahead than Deco's La Paz Batchoy Shop, which opened in 1938
• The dish was concocted by Federico Guilergan Sr. in 1938 in Iloilo^[3] His recipe called for a mixture of broth, noodles, beef and pork. The soup later evolved into its present form which has become Iloilo City's most popular dish. Federico Guillergan, Jr., the son of the soup's inventor, states that his father at first jokingly called the dish "bats" when asked for its name. Later, he added "choy", from the vegetable dish chop suey.^[4]
• Ted's Oldtimer Lapaz Batchoy by Teodorico "Ted" Lepura opened his first batchoy shop at the La Paz public market in 1945. Run by Lepura, his wife and their children, the shop sold the original La Paz batchoy at that time priced at 20 centavos per bowl. In the 1930s, as a teenager, Lepura learned the basics of making La Paz batchoy while working for a Chinese merchant, and eventually concocted his own version of the dish.^[1]
• Other sources state that the dish originated from the Chinese community in La Paz,^[1][5] since the etymology of the name "Batchoy" likely comes from the Hokkien Chinese term (Chinese: 肉水; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bah-chúi), meaning meat soup