Fiery Bicol Express a la Chum

They say women are innately gifted in cooking, I digress. Truth be told, my BF Chum is a hundred times better cook than I am and maybe ever will. Sure I like eating and relishing our pig out sessions but that's for when we dine out. When we eat at home for casual lunch or dinner together, I rarely set foot in the kitchen Chum rarely lets me set foot in the kitchen, he only grants me access as far as chopping ingredients :P. 

I'm not complaining, in fact sometimes I quite like having nothing to do but wait and control myself as the wonderful smell of BF's cooking wafts through the air, case in point, his fiery Bicol Express.

Fiery Bicol Express ala Chum Recipe


Bicol Express Ingredients:

• 1 whole onion, minced
• 1 whole head of garlic, minced
• Coconut milk (equivalent to 1 whole coconut, you may buy the powdered version or use real coconut milk)
• 1/4 kilo of long green chili peppers and 2 - 3 pieces of red chili peppers (you may use more or less to your liking)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• salt, MSG, bouillon cubes or other seasonings of your choice
• 4 - 5 tablespoons of bagoong alamang [shrimp paste] (you may use more or less to your liking)
• 1 kilo of thinly sliced pork

Bicol Express Cooking Instructions:

• Wash and soak the chili peppers in water for about 30 minutes or less. If you want to tone down the spiciness, remove the seeds after rinsing and straining. 
•  Sauté the minced garlic in oil. Allow garlic to brown a little.
• Add the minced onion. Allow the onion to caramelize a bit.
• Add the pork, sprinkle a few pinches of salt or seasoning you like, allow the pork to brown and use the oil from the pork's fat to cook the it, no need to add more oil at this point.
• When the pork has been cooked to your liking, squeeze the bagoong alamang (to make sure the Bicol Express won't be too salty) and add to the pan.
• Add the coconut milk and stir, wait for it to start boiling.
• Taste test your Bicol Express. Add more seasoning as you wish.
• Cut the chili peppers into diagonal thin strips and add to the pan. 

Chum's note: It's not advisable to overcook your Bicol Express, specially when the chili peppers have been thrown in. It's enjoyed better when the chili peppers still have that nice crunch. Serve hot with steaming platefuls of rice. This recipe serves 7 - 8 famished people.

There ya go folks, reading my entry before finally publishing it, I realize that cooking Bicol Express was fairly easy and there seems to be no special secret ingredient or whatnot, yet BF's Bicol Express is always gone with a blink of an eye. :)


How about you? Have you ever cooked Bicol Express? Any tips on how we can make our Bicol Express recipe better? Do share your thoughts, suggestions and tips below, I love hearing from you. :)

Your pig out buddy,

Tweet