A Spicy Treat | Ala Eh! Bicol Express 🌶

Chilis in the backyard

My dad grows several chili varieties in the backyard. There are some siling labuyo (small chili peppers triangular fruits which grow pointing upwards), Thai chili, and siling haba the mildly spicy ones usually used in sinigang, paksiw, sisig, dinuguan, etc. My sister and I love to make chili-garlic oil -- ahh, perfect condiment for almost anything! Yum!

Anyway, my dad came inside the house with a bunch of green chilis - mostly siling haba and started slicing them thinly. He said he would cook it with coconut milk.

Bicol Express?

"Like Bicol Express?" I asked. Bicol Express is a Filipino dish most known in the Bicol province, wherein the main ingredients are chilis and coconut milk. I have to emphasize "like" because we are not Bicolanos and we're likely to make a different version.

He then thought of what protein to add to the dish. I told him to just shred the left-over paksiw na pata (pork legs) but he didn't like. LOL. He's a meticulous cook like that.

Anyway, he was a bit hesitant with my second suggestion which was to add a can of tuna flakes to his dish. In the end, it made better sense than the pork legs. XD

thinly slice the chilis.	saute garlic, onion, and the tuna flakes.

Can you already feel the heat?! At this point, my dad didn't have any idea yet now spicy the chilis are if cooked in this quantity.

He then added the chilis to the pan.

To enhance flavor to the dish, he added shrimp paste (which was also spicy, LOL!)

I tried a small piece of the sliced chili and deym, it's hot! 🌶

Excuse us, Bicolanos, but we live in a countryside without fresh coconuts. LOL. Instead, we just added a pouch of coconut milk.

Let it simmer until creamy. Ohh, lala! This is going so well.

My dad was so cooperative while I was documenting his cooking process. I told him I would share the post rewards with him. Hahaha.

Extra rice, please!

Finally, the coconut milk was reduced to a creamy texture. I was so excited to try it! Ah, it is best paired with steamed rice. OMG. Please don't ask me to tell you how much I ate. XD

The heat of the chili was just right. The coconut milk really toned it down.

Tada! Bicol Express (Ala Eh version). Let's eat!

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