Riding on the Bicol Express

Wed, September 28th of 2005

11:10 am

Fire me up

Bicol Express is a fiery dish – and I do mean fiery – an explosive combination of green finger chilies and pork strips simmered in coconut milk (gata) until thick. I bow to Tita (Aunt) Cely’s culinary prowess, the genius inventor behind this dish; so adept is she in the kitchen that I’m sure she can make even chopped liver taste good (and she probably already has!).

The chili pepper used here is what I know as siling pangsigang – the long green chili used to spice up our native sour soup – although I know some people know it as siling mahaba (long green chilies). Our local green chilies are really not that hot – I liken them to jalapeÃ±os (perhaps they even are). It’s the tiny red ones you have to watch out for.

Bicol is a Philippine province known for its spicy dishes, most of which are cooked using gata. It’s mistakenly assumed that Bicol Express hails from Bicol, but it’s actually from Los BaÃ±os, a province just an hour’s drive away from Manila. The story is that Tita Cely and her brother Demitrio (Kuya Itring) invented Bicol Express as a companion dish to Laing (gabi [taro]) leaves and stalks boiled with ginger, chili and coconut milk). This was in the 1960’s when brother and sister owned The Grove restaurant. The socialites at the time loved the laing but complained it was too, ahem, “zippy” for their tastes. So Tita Cely and her Kuya Itring cut down on the peppers and created the Bicol Express to complement the laing for those who could handle more heat. As for the name, the new dish was christened as such when a train happened to chug by the restaurant bearing the name, “Bicol Express.”

Most of the Bicol Express dishes that I’ve seen in Manila are heavier on the pork strips with just a few slices of the green chili. It’s well known that Metro Manilans (with a few exceptions) cannot handle incendiary cuisine. But Tita Cely’s Bicol Express is enough to make a fire-breathing dragon out of anyone: it’s loaded with green chilies sliced on the diagonal, cooked with just a few pork strips and simmered in coconut milk until thick. Hit me! It’s a pyrotechnic invasion let loose in your mouth. I love it! Bicol Express is beat eaten with lots of white rice or laing, to temper the heat.

If you can take the heat, check out Market Man’s Bicol Express recipe.

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11 Comments »

omg!!! i LOVE that stuff!!! i had no idea it was actually from laguna the best one i had ever had was in bicol – where they threw in a handfull of minced, seeded labuyo! super good!!!

you got me craving!!! that’s exactly how i like it – more chili, less meat perfect with rice! and lots of it!

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Comment by darra — September 28, 2005 @ 4:34 pm

When the UP Judo Club had a delegation of Japanese black belts visiting, we took them to Bakahan at Manukan, and our coach ordered Bicol Express.

When it arrived, one of the players asked, “Excuse, please. What this?”

One of my teammates answered, “Sensei, it’s like your wasabi,” which Ikeshima-san vigorously denied. So he took a big heaping spoonful.

And promptly grabbed his glass and drank it down.

In a more muted voice, Ikeshima muttered, “It like wasabi.”

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Comment by Eric — September 29, 2005 @ 6:48 am

Holy pamintang durog, Lori! Bicol Express is one of my absolute faves. Suddenly, I want a huge helping of it along with an equally huge bowl of rice.

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Comment by Midge — September 29, 2005 @ 11:29 am

bicol is not a province. it is a region composed of six provinces. however, its a nice blog about the bicol express.

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Comment by Anonymous — October 26, 2005 @ 2:49 pm

I am not really convinced that bicol express came from from laguna, and was invented in the 1960′s. I am a bicolano, now residing in toronto. The way I know it, bicol express really came from bicol even since 1960′s. My father was born in 1930 and bicol was alraedy there. And this dish takes a long time to stale since it had the oily syrup from the coconut. Besides bicol, albay more in particular has the finest laing in the world. Just say “Laing Budiao” albayanos know what you mean. This is grown within the running water coming from the fresh upstream spring water. Even here in Toronto they have good quality of laing from Trinidad but they are nothing comparable to albays laing. For your info please

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Comment by Anonymous — January 7, 2006 @ 4:11 am

the name may have been invented in laguna but the dish itself has long been concocted for centuries in albay, especially in the first district where scalding-hot peppers make up the main ingredient of every vegetable dish.

for those who post comments, please make sure that you check your facts well before engaging in a myth-spreading scheme.

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Comment by Anonymous — May 7, 2006 @ 4:37 pm

surely the name “bicol express” is coined or invented by aling lucy. her version of the dish she called “bicol express” is her version though may not be the original one.

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Comment by Anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 3:12 pm

Bicol Express is a dish all Bicolanos are proud of, and to say that it came from Laguna is deemed as a total disregard for the region’s flair for amazing dishes.My dad is a Bicolano, and ever since we were kids, we eat spicy foods without batting an eyelash. Bicol Express recipe is a family legacy. So please understand if we react rather strongly to this post. To recognise someone for being a great cook is commendable, food should be celebrated, more so the hands that made them. But it is a different thing to say that Tita Cely is a great Bicol Express cook, and to credit the history of the dish to her. I can never tell you how the dish started, but I can assure you it’s an authentic Bicol dish. Let’s get our facts straight, especially since it seems alot of people take your opinion about food very highly. This is the first time I read your blogs, and by the way, kudos to you for promoting and featuring local stores/people who concoct great food.

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Comment by Anonymous — August 19, 2006 @ 1:36 pm

My reliable source, a bicolana & her forebears can really never tell if bicol express originated in Bicol. At least you qualified â€œthe STORY is that Tita Cely and her brother Demitrio (Kuya Itring) invented Bicol Expressâ€¦â€ In the same manner that we Filipinos claim that the fluorescent was invented by Agapito Flores. If it makes tita Cely & some Filipinos happy, so be it. Letâ€™s tone it down tho.

Here in Cebu, tiyo Ben cooks the best (for me) bulalo, lechon kawali and bicol express BUT we hardly attribute that he invented/coined those dishes.

Bicol region though have great tasting food especially those cooked with gata, e.g., gulay na langka, calabasa, gabi/natong/lada, pinangat, pusit, alimango, pating, dinuguan, and even guava cooked w/ gata â€“ to name a few.

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Comment by Anonymous — October 25, 2006 @ 12:00 pm

is it possible that train commuters or bicolanos were looking for a bicol fiery dish as they dine on that restaurant?
is it possible that they call it bicol express because they dont know its real name as a viand from bicol?
well, what i meant is nobody could attest to its historical origin. so why all the claims?
but there is one thing i am sure about. its not from america or japan. it is from BICOL, hence the name Bicol Express…

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Comment by Anonymous — December 3, 2006 @ 9:32 pm

it makes me smile whenever i see blogs written about bicol express… i just hope somebody would make it more available in the supermarkets where one’s craving for it can be met.
i read that somebody from Zamboanga (Atchin’s) is already marketing it but I haven’t tasted it yet… hope it would be available here in Mnla.

i can cook bicol express and those who had tasted it claim that it’s one of the best that they’ve tried… well, let’s see if it has a market or following in Manila… what do u think?

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Comment by juan — September 15, 2008 @ 7:11 pm

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