A soup called bachoy
“Bachoy” is the collective term for pork lomo (tenderloin), lapay (spleen) and bato (kidney). It is also the name of a traditional soup cooked with lots of ginger. If noodles are added and the noodle dish is topped with ground chicharon (pork crackling), it is called la paz bachoy. I’ll have to skip la paz bachoy with the pork crackling — too much fat for my diet. But the basic bachoy dish can be made almost fat-free if you trim all the visible fat from the pork.
While sili leaves are traditional for cooking bachoy, other green leafy vegetables may be substituted. In my case, it was kamote (sweet potato) tops. Spinach is another good substitute.
To make a pot of bachoy, you will need:
bachoy (if unavailable as a set, you can buy the tenderloin, spleen and kidney separately)
about 100 g. of pork liver
8 c. of meat broth (fat skimmed)
1 whole garlic
1 large onion
2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger
patis (fish sauce) or salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
2 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
a handful of sili leaves, kamote tops or spinach
Cleaning the kidney can be tricky. It has to be split open and the inside scraped. I always ask the butcher to do this for me. But if you have to do it yourself, peel the outer skin of the kidney, split it open and cut off the dark-colored center.
Trim all the visible fat from the spleen and the tenderloin.
Cut the kidney, tenderloin, spleen and liver into thin strips, about 1/4-inch wide if you can manage it. Otherwise, just slice them as thinly as you can.
Pick the leaves of the greens you are using and discard the stalks.
Crush, peel and finely mince the garlic.
Peel and finely slice the onion.
Peel and cut the ginger into matchsticks.
Heat the cooking oil. Saute the ginger until fragrant, about a minute. Add the tenderloin, spleen and kidney. Cook over high heat until they change color. Add the garlic and onion. Cook for another few minutes or until the onion slices are soft.
Pour in the broth. Season with patis or salt and add lots of ground pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Batchoy cooks fast but simmering for at least 30 minutes allows the flavors to develop better.
After simmering, turn up the heat once more. Add the liver. Boil for a minute. Add the greens and cook just until wilted. If you are using sili leaves, you have to turn off the heat first before adding the leaves. Boiling sili leaves will make the soup bitter.
The bachoy is done at this point. Time to enjoy it.
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hello, connie! as a novice cook, it is a comfort to know that i can always “run” to your site if i need some good filipino recipe. i already tried your dads sarsiado but used chicken instead and even added some red wine. i think i’ll try that baked eggplant soon…looks really yummy
“lycka till!”
Hi Lara, it is likewise a comfort to know that people are still cooking at home. May our tribe multiply. Cheers.
Connie, can’t believe you skipped the chicharon! With Lapid’s the bachoy would’ve been heaven!
hi connie
just want to tell you that i found a site where one of your recipes posted just thought you should know
pwede bang mag po bang mag post kayo ng mga recipes about kangkong?adobong kangkong lang kasi ang alan ko….thank you from germany..
Soul, no more chicharon for me after my gall bladder surgery.
Mitch, can you e-mail the URL of the site to me? Thanks.
Josie, have you tried the search box?
hey conie! tagal kong absent ah…. am sorry to hear about your gall bladder surgery. tsaka, are you transferring to a new house? cant find in the archive the details. cant login to houseonahill.net as well.
anyways, the batchoy that I know that my nanay cooked for us is like a dinuguan with less dugo and with miswa. I’ve tasted the original La Paz bachoy when I was still living in Iloilo and the best is TED”s.
take care! I was in Manila last month and saw the Old Spaghetti House in sumulong when we went to Antipolo. It was soo nice and I swear I’ll eat there this Dec coz were planning of spending Christmas and New Year there.
More power….
Brenda, can’t login to houseonahill.net? Wow. Lemme check that.
Re with misua. I’ve tried that too but never tried the version with blood. Very interesting.
I always wanted to cook bachoy but I don’t know how. I’ll definitely try this one. Many thanks, Connie.
hi Connie,
thanks sa info…..nabasa ko na,ang dami pala.God bless…
hi connie, I was simply lurking around, then I “accidentally” found your website. i am a physician by profession, a mom to a 4 y/o and a 2 y/o kids. My profession requires much of my time, but i always make sure i have an alloted time to prepare home-cooked meals for my husband and kids, that is why your site is of great help.
More power and keep posting recipes…
Thank you for your recipe of batchoy.. I love it so much..More poewr to you…
We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks
Ms. Connie, don’t we need to pre boil the kidneys and spleen to make sure they don’t have smell? Thanks.
No. They smell only if they weren’t properly cleaned.