Prepare a delicious serving of mouthwatering Bicol Express with this traditional recipe that will allow you to experience the local flavors of the Philippines. With its easy-to-find ingredients that can be bought in most stores, you can cook this delightful dish at any time as long as you have the ingredients.
Rather than having to search for a restaurant or carinderia that sells this scrumptious dish, you can follow this recipe and cook this in the comfort of your own kitchen. You can even customize it to have more finger chilies, or add red chilies to make it pack even more of a punch.
Bicol Express
Ingredients
- ½ kg. pork belly
- Salt
- 1 pc. onion
- 1 thumb-sized ginger
- 6 - 7 pcs. finger chili (siling pangsigang)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup shrimp paste (ginisang bagoong alamang)
- 1 cup shredded coconut (kinayod na niyog)
- 1 ½ cup coconut milk
- Fish sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Slice the pork belly into small strips. Heat the pan and sear the pork belly until the oil starts to render. Season with salt.
- Mince the onions and ginger. Chop the finger chilies. Crush and mince the garlic.
- Once one side of the pork has browned, flip it over. Add the ginger, onion, and garlic. Toss it all together. Season it with shrimp paste. Toss.
- Add the shredded coconut and coconut milk. Season with fish sauce. Leave it to simmer until the pork becomes tender.
- When the sauce has thickened and the pork has become tender, add the chopped finger chilies. Mix it all together.
With all the porky goodness rendered into oil that seeps into the creamy sauce, this Bicol Express recipe is an explosion of flavor with every bite. Pair it with a freshly cooked bowl of rice and you have an exquisite meal that is all yours to enjoy!
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