Bicol
Express is a Filipino
dish with pork meat (excellent to make from either pork belly, pork
chop, pork shoulder or pork spareribs cut) that is cooked in coconut milk,
shrimp paste and the star of it all…lots of peppers for a spicy, creamy and scrumptious
meal.
The
original or authentic recipe of this dish is sooo spicy that your tongue numbs
as there are more peppers being
used than pork! If you google search the history of Bicol Express recipe, you
will find that this dish was adapted from a Bicolano recipe called "Gulay
na may Lada" (a vegetable dish with chilis). And this is where I will stop. With too many opposing claims of Bicol
Express’ history, I will just leave it to the historians to find and tell us
the facts.
All I
can say is kudos to those who can take that kind of heat! For those family like ours who experience
heartburn whenever we ate spicy foods; but still crave for the Bicol Express,
worry not. In this recipe, I toned down
the spiciness by adjusting the number of peppers and by scraping partially the
seeds off the pods.
Oh,
yes. This recipe is definitely spicy enough
that you may still experience the heartburn after. But we can handle this level of heat and we have
either whole milk or full-fat sour cream or yogurt ready within our reach. Also, a spoonful of sugar or honey can help.
The sugar in honey and the granules can absorb the spicy oil and will provide
instant relief. Ensure that you do not
drink cold water immediately as it may also put off the digestive fire
and may hinder your digestion process, further resulting in various health
problems (reference: https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/what-should-you-do-to-get-relief-from-eating-spicy-foods-1795367).
There
are several Bicol Express recipe variations that exist depending on personal
preferences or regions. Some add
vegetables like winged bean (sigarilyas), long beans or string beans (sitaw),
or green beans (Baguio beans). Others, uses “balao” (a salted and
slightly fermented shrimp that is a prominent feature of cuisines across
Southeast Asia from Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and even
Indochina). Plus, there are also those who uses “fresh” shrimp paste.
My
version doesn’t have those above-mentioned vegetables. Instead of using “balao”, I used dry krill (tuyong
alamang) as it gives that “shrimps” taste without the intense salt hit that
a small bit of shrimp paste provides. Instead
of using the fresh one, I used the sautéed shrimp paste so it doesn’t
smell “fishy”. Lastly, I used coconut cream
as we prefer that creamier sauce.
I hope
you make this recipe and LOVE it!
Ingredients:
·
1
kg pork belly (liempo), cut into bite-size
·
8
cloves garlic, minced
·
1
large onion, chopped
·
2
thumb-size ginger, minced
·
2
tablespoons sautéed shrimp paste
·
5
pieces long green chili peppers (siling haba), sliced diagonally and
partially seeded
·
8
pieces bird’s eye chilis (siling labuyo), chopped and partially seeded
·
2
⅓ cups (550ml) coconut cream (kakang gata)
·
2
tablespoons dried krill (alamang)
·
coarse
black pepper and salt, to taste
Instructions:
1. In a deep cooking pan over medium-high heat, add the pork belly meat. Season with coarse black pepper and salt. Mix well. Cover the pan.
2. Occasionally, mix the meat. Continue cooking until the pork renders its own fat and the meat turns brown (about 10 minutes), remove and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, leave about 2 tablespoons of the oil in the cooking pan and remove the excess, either you discard it or for future use.
4. In the same pan, saute onion, garlic, ginger, dried krill (tuyong alamang) and the pre-sauteed shrimp paste. Mix well.
5. Add the coconut cream and stir. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover the pan and bring it to boil.
6. Add ¾ portion each of the long green peppers and of the bird’s eye chilis. Stir.
7. Add the pre-fried pork belly meat. Stir well to blend the sauce into the meat.
8. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat is tender and the liquid subsides by half.
9. Stir occasionally. Once satisfied with the tenderness of the meat and the oil has separated from the cream, turn off the heat.
10. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining long green peppers and the bird’s eye chilis. Serve immediately.
Happy cooking and eating everyone!!!
Instructions:
1. In a deep cooking pan over medium-high heat, add the pork belly meat. Season with coarse black pepper and salt. Mix well. Cover the pan.
2. Occasionally, mix the meat. Continue cooking until the pork renders its own fat and the meat turns brown (about 10 minutes), remove and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, leave about 2 tablespoons of the oil in the cooking pan and remove the excess, either you discard it or for future use.
4. In the same pan, saute onion, garlic, ginger, dried krill (tuyong alamang) and the pre-sauteed shrimp paste. Mix well.
5. Add the coconut cream and stir. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover the pan and bring it to boil.
6. Add ¾ portion each of the long green peppers and of the bird’s eye chilis. Stir.
7. Add the pre-fried pork belly meat. Stir well to blend the sauce into the meat.
8. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat is tender and the liquid subsides by half.
9. Stir occasionally. Once satisfied with the tenderness of the meat and the oil has separated from the cream, turn off the heat.
10. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining long green peppers and the bird’s eye chilis. Serve immediately.
Happy cooking and eating everyone!!!
Tips:
1. Best served with warm rice.
2. You can substitute pork belly with other pork meat like pork chop, pork shoulder or pork spareribs for this recipe.
3. To save time, ask the butcher to cut your meat accordingly.
4. You can adjust the amount of chilis according to your preference.
5. In case of heartburn, have whole milk or full-fat sour cream or yogurt ready within your reach. Also, a spoonful of sugar or honey can help. The sugar in honey and the granules can absorb the spicy oil and will provide instant relief.
6. Ensure that you do not drink cold water immediately as it may also put off the digestive fire and may hinder your digestion process, further resulting in various health problems (reference: https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/what-should-you-do-to-get-relief-from-eating-spicy-foods-1795367)
2. You can substitute pork belly with other pork meat like pork chop, pork shoulder or pork spareribs for this recipe.
3. To save time, ask the butcher to cut your meat accordingly.
4. You can adjust the amount of chilis according to your preference.
5. In case of heartburn, have whole milk or full-fat sour cream or yogurt ready within your reach. Also, a spoonful of sugar or honey can help. The sugar in honey and the granules can absorb the spicy oil and will provide instant relief.
6. Ensure that you do not drink cold water immediately as it may also put off the digestive fire and may hinder your digestion process, further resulting in various health problems (reference: https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/what-should-you-do-to-get-relief-from-eating-spicy-foods-1795367)
Watch
how to cook Bicol Express – Extra Mild:
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