As soon as I woke up this morning, I immediately went to the kitchen to cook Laing. Laing is a Bicolano spicy dish made of dried taro leaves that cooked in coconut milk.

I remember when I first tried cooking this dish, a dear friend who tasted it told me that it was the best laing dish that she had. Because of that comment, I was confident enough to cook it again and share the recipe here. I wish I put more chili this time but I adjusted the recipe below to add more chili. The more spicy this dish is, the more successful laing is. Best to be eaten within two days as coconut milk-based dishes needed to be consumed immediately.

Laing

Course Main Course

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 piece onion minced
6 cloves garlic minced
1 piece thumb-sized ginger peeled & minced
1/2 kilo pork belly cut into small cubes
1 tbsp shrimp paste
4 cups coconut milk
4 cups dried taro leaves
10 pieces thai chili peppers chopped
1 cup coconut cream
salt to taste

Instructions

In a wok over medium heat, heat olive oil.
Add garlic, onions and ginger and cook till onions are translucent.
Add pork belly and cook until pork turns lightly brown in color.
Add shrimp paste and mix all ingredients.
Add coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Add dried taro leaves and push down the leaves till the leaves are submerged in coconut milk.
Add thai chili peppers.
Lower heat, cover wok and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add coconut cream and continue to cook for 15 minutes.
Season with salt to taste.
Serve and enjoy!