"Americanized" Batchoy

The pork cracklings make it so good!

Old habits die hard. Hence, I still follow old "New Year" traditions that we used to do as a child. A lot of them had to do with Chinese beliefs that became meshed with Filipino practices. Remember when our grandmas would tell us to wear something with polka dots to celebrate the New Year? Or to have 12 different kinds of round fruits that would represent prosperity for the coming 12 months.

A tradition that I couldn't forget was to eat noodles and boiled egg in the New Year. Noodles for long life, and egg... well... the round shape of the boiled egg has the same meaning as the polka dots. Last year, I didn't really prepare much so I just had ramen and egg. But this year, I wanted to make La Paz Batchoy.

After reading all the ingredients of La Paz, I decided that I couldn't make it - I just don't know where to get the pig innards needed for it. More importantly, I don't think my family would eat it. 
 So I had to do the "Americanized" version and take out the offals and innards from the recipe.

A more traditional version includes pork organs, crushed pork cracklings, shrimp, vegetables, chicken stock, chicken breast, beef loin and round noodles. Of those ingredients mentioned, I think only pork cracklings made it to my dish. I didn't have any complains, though. It was delicious. Really delicious.


What you need: 

1 lb pork loins
1 lb miki noodles, boiled
4 hard boiled eggs
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 quartered Vidalia onion
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
7 cups water
1 pack pork cracklings, crushed
1 head of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oil


What to do:

In a large pot, boil water. Add pork, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, onion, shrimp paste and soy sauce. Let cook until pork is tender, about an hour.

Meanwhile, cook minced garlic in oil until toasted. Drain in paper towels and set aside. 

Remove pork from broth and let cool. Shred or slice into strips.

Arrange noodles in a bowl. Top with pork slices and egg. Ladle broth into the bowl. Garnish with crushed pork cracklings and toasted garlic. Serve hot!


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. When cooking pork, make sure to remove the scum that rises to the surface.
2. Use green onions for garnish!
3. Some people prefer egg-drop type batchoys.
4. As always, go with taste. If the broth doesn't taste ok for you, tweak it!