VERSUS: Deco's Original and Ted's Oldtimer

The batchoy war continues as I found myself in the flagship branches of these two "batchoyans". Though weeks apart they are within the same range and scope, so to speak. This is limited to their branches at La Salette building for it would be different in other branches as experienced before.

Ambiance and service

It’s a green and white motif for Ted's interiors while yellow and brown for Deco's. Both exude a more modern and trendy take which are unlike the original batchoyan stalls.

With a crew to serve you from taking your orders at the counter to giving you additional bowls of “caldo”, both are equally attentive and alert. But I would choose Deco’s over Ted’s in this aspect. No, it's not that Deco's has auto doors by the way.

Presentation

Deco's looks more photogenic and visually appealing because of the contrast of colours but it's not nicely "arranged" as Ted's. The latter has this "mound” consisting of big slices of liver, innards, chicharon (most of which are finely crushed), onion and garlic.

The former on the other hand bigger chunks of chicharon yet smaller slices of pork and innards that seemed to have been tsunamied with the "caldo" (or soup). Obviously Ted's wins on presentation.

Sides

Located beside them are a pasalubong shop for Deco’s and a dessert shop for Ted’s. But this aint the sides I’m talking though it would a tie if considered being a suki in both pasalubong shop and Dulgies.Anyway, it’s the side orders that go well with batchoy I’m talking about.

Ted's make their own pan de sal and (orders) creamy puto while Deco's has pre-war pan de sal, pan de sal ni Pa-a and puto manapla. All of these are good side orders but I love the variety and novelty of Deco's for I am partial to it's miniscule and hard pre-war pan de sal.

Taste

Of course, it you can make your own that suits your taste by adding soy sauce and/or pepper. But “naturally” Ted's is more body and flavour while Deco's is subtle and subdued.

The former serves it with very hot caldo while the latter temperately hot. Deco’s tends to become saltier in the long run because of its chicharon, I believe. Both have the same sahog but Ted’s innard-laden bowl gives it an edge for it’s my preferred bowl of batchoy.

So which batchoyan?

A tie based on the above points of view but let me finish this by saying Ted’s had always been the best batchoy for me but I’d bring my guests to Deco’s first as I did many times.

Ready-to-cook Pancit Molo balls

It was only today that I remembered buying a pack of ready-to-cook pancit Molo. Locals are fortunate to buy them at groceries here saving them time, money and effort in the tedious preparation of pancit Molo. Anyway every pack of the RTC pancit Molo has the balls and the lang-lang . Its the balls that entice the buyers and the lang lang that "dictates" the price and weight. For this blog entry, I opted for the AR brand (150 grams for PhP 21) since they had the more photogenic combination at that time though I'm more partial to the Cares brand. Separating the contents makes you realize that what you actually bought but for that price, it's already a bargain, can be cooked in many ways and can serve 2-3 people. It is then up to you what you can make out from a pack or more. For this preparation, I used 2 chicken broth cubes and just estimated the amount of water. Upon taste test I added a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and few drops of soy sauce. I boiled the lang

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K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

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Valenciana

A close relative of paella, this dish originated in Valencia, Spain and probably brought by the Spaniards when they colonized the country. Always a staple in family gatherings, this yellow rice is a complete meal in itself, with pork, chicken, liver, chorizo, shrimps, bellpeppers, peas and raisins to name its basic ingredients. RECIPE Saute your choice meats and vegetables. Cook malagkit rice with turmeric and broth cubes then mix sauted meat and vegetables when almost done. Garnish with hardboiled eggs and onion leaves.

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Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts . Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts! IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father. The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year. It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at 100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours. Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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