SIGNATURE DISH

BICOL EXPRESS (FOOD SARAP)

             There are stories saying that Bicol express was conceptualized and first cooked by Ms. Cely Kalaw in her Manila restaurant sometime during the late 60′s to the early 70′s. Based on an article written by Angela De Leon entitled Soul Train: The Unlikely Beginnings Of A Beloved Filipino Dish (published in Chile Pepper Magazine last October 2006), Ms. Kalaw toned down the heat on her Taro dish (this could be “Laing”) after receiving complains from some customers. However, she knew that other customers wanted the Taro dish to be hot and spicy so she invented another amazingly spicy hot dish that would best compliment the Taro. Thus, Bicol Express was born.

But how was she able to come up with the name? As per Angela’s article, the taro incident and new spicy dish invention happened in just one day. Apparently, Ms. Kalaw finished cooking the new dish but still cannot think of any name for it. As lunch time drew nearer, she was getting anxious because the customers will soon flock-in and she has yet to name her newest masterpiece. At that moment, she heard the daily train to Bicol ramble by the window. It was the light bulb moment that she was waiting for.

The information in the article about the origin of Bicol Express might be true, or not. There are many claims that the original Bicol Express Recipe came from the Bicol region. We all know that Bicolano dishes are delicious and pretty looking so there is a big possibility that this dish really originated from the Bicol region.

Bicol Express (Bikol: Sinilihan) is a popular Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolanostyle. It is a stew made from long chilies (siling mahaba in Tagalog, lada panjang in Malay/Indonesian), coconut milk, shrimp paste or stockfish,onion, pork, and garlic. It is said to have evolved from gulay na may lada, another Bicolano dish which is nowadays presented as one of the many variants of Bicol Express.

Ingredients

800g pork belly, diced (small)
1/2 cup dried shrimps or 3 tbsp bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
6-10 finger chillies, julienned
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, chopped
3 cups coconut milk
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. In a pan sauté garlic and onions.
2. Add the pork belly stir fry for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the 2 cups of coconut milk and dried shrimps then bring to a boil and simmer in medium heat for 20 minutes or until the coconut milk had reduced to a thick oily gravy.
4. Add the chillies and add the second can of coconut milk and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.ENJOY!!!