Bicol Express

Last Saturday, Hubby was off to meet his fellow grease monkeys over at the Fortuner Club eyeball in Makati. I was left alone at home to fend for my own dinner. I didn’t know what to make for myself. So I checked my pantry, I had a can of coconut cream that lay forgotten in one corner. I thought I’d better use that before it turns bad. It happens quite a lot when I have a few things that are hidden in the depths of my kitchen cupboard. It’s amazing what I unearth there sometimes. “I have basmati rice? And couscous?”

Anyway, I’ve always liked Bicol Express but never made it at home because hubby doesn’t like food with coconut cream. So, with my coconut cream and a handful ingredients, I made a very simple and straightforward Bicol Express. This is my version:

Bicol Express:



You will need:

Cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, minced
¼ kilo Pork kasim, sliced into bite-sized rectangular portions
Water
1 can Coconut cream
3 pieces, green chili peppers, sliced diagonally
2-3 tablespoons bagoong (shrimp paste)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a pan, sauté onion until fragrant, add the garlic and sauté, do not brown.
2. To the pan, add the pork kasim and stir. Add about a cup of water and simmer, to tenderize the pork (don’t you just hate eating tough pork?).
3. When the liquid has reduced and the pork has rendered some of its fat, add the coconut cream. Simmer until the sauce is reduced in half.
4. Add the green chili peppers and bagoong. Stir and simmer a bit more.
5. Add salt if it needs it.

For more kick, you can add bird’s eye chilis also. I don’t like it too spicy. This dish turned out well, except for one thing, the coconut cream was too sweet! Fresh coconut cream is so much better. Next time, I will really use fresh coconut cream.

Some recipes probably don’t have bagoong altogether. Or if they do, it’s added at the beginning of the sautéing process. My mom, whenever she makes binagoongan, the bagoong is usually added last, so I incorporated that method in this recipe.