Central Philippines Pork Noodle Soup (La Paz Batchoy)

By
Connie Veneracion
Connie Veneracion
Connie Veneracion
Food writer and blogger living in the Philippines and specializing in Southeast Asian home cooking and travel.
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Updated on 09/27/21
Central Philippines Pork Noodle Soup (La Paz Batchoy)

The Spruce / Christine Ma

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 20 mins
Servings: 2 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
628 Calories
30g Fat
54g Carbs
36g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 628
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g 39%
Saturated Fat 9g 45%
Cholesterol 428mg 143%
Sodium 1234mg 54%
Total Carbohydrate 54g 20%
Dietary Fiber 4g 14%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 36g
Vitamin C 26mg 128%
Calcium 100mg 8%
Iron 8mg 44%
Potassium 425mg 9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The term batchoy itself has two definitions in Filipino cuisine. It is the collective term for pork tenderloin, spleen, and kidneys and it also means the noodle soup from La Paz, Iloilo City. 

Long before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, the natives had been trading with the Chinese for a long time. This regular interaction introduced the locals to many Chinese dishes including the ubiquitous noodle soup which came to be known as mami. Because the meat varies, mami is often preceded by a descriptive word like pork mami, chicken mami, wonton mami, and so on.

Regional variations of the Chinese-style noodle soup developed. Arguably the most well-known and well-loved version originated from the Central Philippines. In La Paz, Iloilo City, the pork noodle soup is prepared with offal and topped with crushed chicharron, pork cracklings that found its way into the local cuisine via Spain. This China-meets-Spain noodle soup came to be known as La Paz batchoy.

Learn what foods you need to stock your pantry with to cook Filipino recipes.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked egg noodles

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

  • 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

  • 1/2 to 2/3 cups cooked pork offal, or combination of sliced tenderloin, spleen, and kidney, or pork meat

  • 1/4 cup uncooked pork liver, thinly sliced

  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce, or to taste

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 cup broth

  • 1 ounce crushed chicharron, or to taste

  • 1 medium (4-1/8" long) scallions, for garnish

  • 1 lime halved, for serving

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Central Philippines Pork Noodle Soup (La Paz Batchoy) ingredients

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  2. Divide the egg noodles between two large bowls.

    Divide the egg noodles between two large bowls

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  3. Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and saute just until fragrant.

    garlic and ginger in a pan

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  4. Add the pork tenderloin and offal (or pork meat slices). Season with fish sauce to taste. Cook just until the meat has absorbed the fish sauce and the liver is cooked through but not overdone.

    pork tenderloin and offal cooking in a pan

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  5. Divide the sauteed meat between the two bowls.

    Divide the sauteed meat between the two bowls with noodles

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  6. Crack an egg over the noodles and meat.

    Crack an egg over the noodles and meat in a bowl

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  7. Pour in simmering broth.

    broth added to the noodles, meat and egg in the bowl

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  8. Sprinkle generously with crushed chicharron.

    crushed chicharron sprinkled on top of the noodle bowl

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

  9. Garnish with sliced scallions. Serve immediately with kalamansi halves (or lime) and more fish sauce on the side.

    Central Philippines Pork Noodle Soup (La Paz Batchoy) in bowls

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

More About Batchoy

To make a good batchoy, start with a rich homemade broth. And, if offal is not a taste you've acquired, you can substitute it with sliced cooked pork meat.

  • What makes La Paz batchoy richer than other pork mami versions is the broth. Spices and aromatics (usually shallots, garlic cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves), beef bones (with the marrow), pork bones, and shrimp heads and shells are simmered together for hours until the chunks of beef marrow fall off the bones, partially liquefy, and get mixed into the broth.
  • Because of the addition of shrimp heads and shells, the broth does not taste too much of meat fat and neither does the shrimp taste overwhelm. It is, put simply, a perfect balance.
  • Have this rich broth simmering while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for La Paz batchoy. That way, the noodle soup is at the perfect steaming-hot temperature when it is served.

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