Now it is batchoy

Perhaps it is one of those forgotten recipes or those that have been taken for granted, that not one Filipino cookbook author, including us, thought of it as part of our culinary heritage.

Batchoy is a soup dish we grew up with in our town of Biñan in Laguna. It is made of pork lapay (we don’t know what the equivalent in English of this term is, but it is part of the innards of pork, akin to liver), pork liver and kidney, pork tenderloin and coriander (kinchay). It is cooked with pork blood (like in dinuguan, but not as thick) and rice washing. This is the Tagalog version. In the Visayas, particularly in Iloilo, they add noodles (misua).

At a recent lunch, a friend asked us for the recipe. As with the ampalaya salad, we don’t have a recipe for this. Although we checked our  cookbook collection, unfortunately we did not find it. Perhaps it is one of those forgotten recipes or those that have been taken for granted, that not one Filipino cookbook author, including us, thought of it as part of our culinary heritage.

Yet again, we are making an appeal to those who have the batchoy recipe – please share.

As far as we can remember, this is how our forebears prepared batchoy. They rub the kidney – after cutting off its vein-y middle part – with salt, then rinse it under running water. After washing, they slice it into thin half diamond-shaped pieces. The rest of the meat is also cut thinly and washed. In a little oil, they sauté garlic and onion, adding the meats when onion has become transparent. Patis (fish sauce) is added, then covered to seal the flavor. After this they add the second rice washing (enough to cover the mixture), then simmer and cook until tender, lastly adding the cut coriander. It was one of the best soups in our town. Actually, there are some small eateries who offer the Visayan version of the dish in Manila and the provinces.

We have received more ampalaya salad recipes. These are from Mary Yambao who adds freshly cooked peeled shrimps; Molly Kraut who uses green apples and fresh orange juice; Sim Cataluna who referred us to the link where pineapple bits and cider vinegar are added; Corine Basilio who got the recipe from a website and Fe Chan Lim who found a recipe using pineapple and raisins plus pineapple juice. To you all, a big thank you.

Tesco, the leading food retail chain in England which currently operates outlets in 16 countries, is now in the Philippines, in partnership with the SM Group. Time was when every time we would go to the UK, we would make it a point to bring home those delectable biscuits from Tesco. We were not alone, as most people we know who have gone to the UK would always include in their take-home list these biscuits, never mind that it would make us go past our baggage allowance. At selected SM stores, Tesco products now on offer are not limited to biscuits. Shoppers will find cake mixes, especially one for baking British scones, pasta sauces, mint jelly, jams and even household needs like liquid cleaners. One might want to relive shopping days in England, while those who may have just heard about this or sampled them as pasalubongs will be delighted that these products are now readily available here. Heed the call of Tesco selling “Affordable British Favorites.”

Have a jolly good Sunday!

E-mail me at [email protected].