Filipino

Bicol Express

Name: Bicol Express
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 700 grams Pork belly, sliced into strips; 2 cans (800ml) Coconut milk; 3 tbsp Shrimp paste (bagoong alamang); 10 Long green chillies, sliced; 5 Bird's eye chillies; 6 cloves Garlic, minced; 1 large Onion, chopped; 1 thumb Ginger, julienned; 2 tbsp Cooking oil

Pork simmered in coconut milk and a serious amount of chilli, from the Bicol region where they cook hotter than the rest of the country. Named after the train.

Time: 50 mins
Serves: 4
Steps: 7
Ingredients: 9

Photo: Derk29 / CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

Method

01
Render the pork belly in a dry pan over medium heat until the fat runs and the strips brown, about 10 minutes.
02
Add the garlic, onion and ginger and cook until soft.
03
Stir in the shrimp paste and fry it for 2 minutes - cooking it properly here removes the raw, harsh edge.
04
Pour in the thinner part of the coconut milk and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until the pork is tender.
05
Add the chillies and cook 5 minutes.
06
Pour in the thick coconut cream and simmer gently for another 10 minutes until the sauce is oily and reduced. Do not let it boil hard or it splits.
07
Taste before adding salt - the shrimp paste is already very salty. Serve with rice.

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