New in Batac

My blog reader Christian commented on one of my blog posts, “… there’s this ‘Lumpianada’ (Lumpia+Empanada) I’ve been hearing. They sell it in Batac, although I haven’t tasted it yet.”

Trying it sounded like a great idea. The next thing I knew, with my foodie family in tow, I was off to track down its whereabouts. Barani was pretty easy to find, but the lumpianada was nowhere in sight. Probably, no graveyard shift for the lumpianada cook. The end of the road was the spooky Batac Cemetery. Alexa hid herself under a jacket until we hit the main road. We made a left turn to the Riverside Empanadahan. Surprise, surprise! Look who was waving hello…

Hello, bye, we want empanadas!

A bigger surprise was waiting at Lanie’s…

A new twist to the empanada, lumpianada is lumpia with lumpia veggies, Batac longaniza and egg.

Judge for yourself.

Photographed by Blauearth Copyright © Blauearth™ All Rights Reserved

On Spotlight: Batac Empanada by Lanie’s

If I were asked to choose what my Last Supper would be, it’s got to be Batac Empanada by Lanie’s Empanada at the Batac Riverside Empanadan.

She wouldn’t tell me her secret, but I’m certain, there is something about Lanie’s empanada that makes it the best among the rest. The shell is crunchier and the over-all taste leaves you wanting for more. Even my visiting Manileño friends always have double or triple servings; and on one instance, we were asked to tranport her empanada all the way to the big city, but during re-frying, the shell didn’t come out well and the filling was everywhere in the pan.

Tokneneng (battered quail eggs) and pinais, much like Lucban’s kiping, albeit thicker, are among Lanie’s specialties.

How Batac empanada is done

How I wish the photos come with a recipe. All I know is that the shell is made from rice flour and it is anatto or atsuete that lends the lovely golden orange tone to it. The filling is made with balatong (mongo beans), grated green papaya and the optional malasado (rare) or well-done egg and Batac longaniza. It is best eaten hot with sukang Iloco ken sili (Ilocos vinegar with chili peppers). Others favor ketchup with their empanadas.

Special (with everything in it) is 33 pesos and regular is 28 pesos.