Hello everyone!
Have a great day to all Hivers.

Does anyone here love spicy food? I am not a fan of spicy food, but my husband and my daughter love to eat spicy food. So today, I cooked a spicy dish for them. I also cooked a separate dish for myself, though it’s somewhat the same as what I made for them, but mine is without chili and has vegetables in it.

The spicy dish I am talking about is popular in the Philippines which is a native dish from the Bicol region, their well-known "Bicol Express".

Bicol Express is a seared pork dish with creamy coconut milk and a lot of chilis. Originally, it contains bagoong or shrimp paste but for the sake of my daughter @tegoshei who is allergic to seafood, I did not put bagoong or shrimp paste in my dish today.

There are a lot of ways or versions of cooking this dish as I've seen from different chefs on YouTube. Some cook it with veggies, some cook it in a very light color and some in a darker color, the same as what I made today. You can also use different meat like pork, chicken, and even fish. So, here's how I cooked my Bicol Express.

Pork Bicol Express

INGREDIENTS:

-Pork
-Coconut Milk
-Long Chili
-Red Chili
-Garlic
-Ginger
-Onion
-Lime or Lemon
-Ground Black Pepper
-Paprika
-Soy Sauce
-Salt
-Sugar
-Knorr Pork Cube
-Canola Oil

PREPARATION:

Extract the coconut meat and make two kinds of coconut milk. The thick one is the first extract and then "thin coconut milk" or the second extract. Put them in a separate container or bowl. Then set aside.

Wash the pork properly, then slice it into small pieces. It may be in cubes or strips.
Wash and prepare all the fresh spices like onion, garlic, ginger, and chilis. Cut them into small pieces and then set aside.

COOKING TIME:

Preheat the pan and put the sliced pork in it. Sear until it becomes light brown. Stir and sear continuously to prevent the pork from burning.





Push the pork to the side, then add a small amount of canola oil. After that, add the ginger, garlic and onion. Stir and mix them with the pork.





Add half a portion of sliced green chili and red chili. Stir to combine.

Pour the thin coconut milk (second one). (Sorry I forgot to take a picture of putting the thin coconut milk.)

After putting the thin coconut milk, stir for a few seconds, cover the pan, and let it simmer until the pork is tender and the coconut milk is reduced.





Season with a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp soy sauce, a small amount of paprika, 1 tbsp of brown or white sugar, and 1 tsp ground black pepper. Stir and mix all the ingredients and continue cooking for a few minutes or until the pork becomes tender and the thin coconut milk is reduced.





Then, add the thick coconut milk (the first one).

Add 1 tbsp of kalamansi juice. Adjust the heat from medium to low heat to prevent the coconut milk from curdling. Continue cooking and wait until the pork is fully cooked and the coconut thick milk is reduced.





Then, add the remaining chilis. Cover for about 2 to 3 minutes and then turn the heat off.





This is now my version of creamy pork Bicol Express!

I transferred it to a serving plate for my family. The other dish in the bowl shown in the picture is the dish I prepared for myself… a non-spicy version with some vegetables. I love it! It is also tasty and nutritious.

We all ate our lunch happily. My husband and my daughter gave me two thumbs up for the pork Bicol Express I cooked for them. I will surely cook another Bicol Express for them soon, but the next one will be chicken. I'm sure they will love it too.

I hope you like this kind of dish too. This is all for today and see you on my next post. Thank you and God bless.