The batchoy duel
T he three-word name alone is iconic, La Paz Batchoy or bat-chui, which is said to have originated—to have been invented—at Iloilo’s La Paz Public Market, a destination by itself, and one that, along with Jaro Big Market, has been evaluated by the Department of Tourism for its tourist appeal.
I had my second bowl at Deco’s at La Paz, and I’m to list down here the differences between this second bowl and the bowl I had first at Popoy’s at the Iloilo Central Market only 15 minutes before.
Batchoy is basically a noodle dish garnished, like the Spanish paella on its more peasant days, with whatever you could find in the kitchen and chuck into the broth. Over the years, however, since it came to be in what some people claim to be 1938, the basic ingredients have been set: noodles (plain or miki or sotanghon), chicken stock or buto buto broth (even shrimp broth), pork innards (kidney, liver, spleen, heart), beef loin (sometimes, even shrimp or chicken breast), assorted vegetables, cracked raw egg, toasted garlic, and crushed chicharon (pork cracklings). Sometimes, in some establishments like Netong’s, they throw in shrimp paste or guinamos. Tradition- ally eaten with hot pan de sal, it is now often accompanied by puto or, if you want a heavy merienda, pork adobo
siopao from the institutional Roberto’s on Calle Real, now J.M. Basa Street, just five minutes away.
Batchoy at Popoy’s and Deco’s are alike yet different in ways that count.
Popoy’s at Iloilo Central Market is a milky, almost-creamy soup, Deco’s is clear-as-water, but with an extra layer of bone marrow on top.
Popoy’s, to me at least, is love at first taste, the taste consistent to the last drop while Deco’s has bitter notes from the innards, is an acquired taste.
In delighting in your bowl of Deco’s batchoy, as the song says, the first [slurp] “won’t hurt at all, the second only makes you wonder, the third will have you on your knees”—and before I knew it, my eating buddies were dragging me out, a spoonful of can’t-getenough-of-it batchoy still in my mouth.
I would think that first-timers should try Popoy’s first, only because there is no break-in needed and, plus, unlike Deco’s, now in an airconditioned front stall at La Paz, Popoy’s is in the inner ‘Batchoy is the soul food of the Ilonggos.’ —Chef Tibong Jardeleza recesses of the Iloilo Central Market, accessible via a walk through a maze of dried fish and seafood stalls, including mounds of guinamos, which all add to the experience.
But Deco’s is a slow-burning kind of love. And the bittersweet romance makes it more memorable. There are other iconic batchoy places in Iloilo -- Ted’s, Netong’s, there is even Buko batchoy at Lars that is served in a coconut shell, though I’m not sure because there is already too much going on in a basic bowl of batchoy.
We took this challenge with Iloilo chef and culture and cuisine champion Tibong Jardeleza, who could have led us to more helpings of batchoy in more places in Iloilo, if only we were up to the challenge. There were many other things on our food agenda, however, including the carinderias that served authentic Ilonggo dishes like laswa (vegetable stew), pinamalhan (Ilonggo paksiw na bangus), and tambo (bamboo shoots in coconut milk). We could only eat so much for a day and ours was no ordinary day, as our 10 a.m.- to-11 p.m. food crawl required us to make room for bibingka, Pan de Buho pantso (their version of pan de coco), teren teren (a string of mini corned beef sandwiches) at Bakery by Louis, a great big lunch at Breakthrough with cruzan crab and diwal (angelfish) and the signature Munding chicken, and a dinner at Chef Tibong’s Rafael’s La Cocina del Sur featuring paella negra (squid ink paella), lengua, pork ribs, and his Madrid Fusion concoction, Adobo Mucho. I can’t wait for a more intense Batchoy Showdown, but first a series of more Iloilo trips must be arranged.
Incidentally, Chef Tibong does food crawls in Iloilo, $150 per person, minimum of six persons per group, minimum of three days per group, inclusive of hotel accommodations (add $50-100 for higher end hotels, like The Richmonde Iloilo or The Marriott) and van arrangements. Call Rafael’s La Cocina del Sur at 0917 620 69 00 or 0947 891 15 45, if you wish to book a food crawl.