Filipino Food: Laing

What is Laing?

Laing is a dish with a main ingredient is taro leaves, the origin this is attributed to the Bicol region where coconut milk figures prominently in the local cuisine.

How to cook Laing?

Laing Ingredients:

300 g. of pork belly, cut into half-inch cubes
2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled and julienned
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 to 8 chilis, roughly chopped (I used red and green finger chilis, the level of hotness varies from one chili variety to another, so you’ll have to make your own calculations as to how much you need)
1 to 2 tbsps. of hibe or dried shrimps (for best results, get the shelled kind)
2 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
4 c. of coconut milk (if using fresh, combine the first and second extractions)
about 600 g. of fresh taro leaves
patis (fish sauce), to taste

Laing Cooking Instructions:

- Heat the cooking oil in a pan. Add the pork and cook, stirring, until they change color.
- Add the garlic and ginger and saute for a few minutes.
- Add the sliced onion and continue sauteing until the onion starts to caramelize. At this point, the pork cubes will start to turn brown around the edges too.
- Add the chili and the tomatoes and saute for a few minutes more or until the tomatoes start to liquefy.
- Add the dried shrimps.
- Add all the taro leaves to the pan. Don’t panic if it looks like you have a huge mountain of taro leaves. Fresh taro leaves wilt like anything once they are heated.
- Pour in all of the coconut milk. Cover the pan to bring everything to the boil.
- When the stew is boiling, stir, pressing the taro leaves into the sauce. Season with fish sauce and stir some more.
- Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer the stew for an hour.
- After an hour, the taro leaves will be soft and so will the pork cubes. Taste a piece of pork and some of the sauce. Add more fish sauce, if necessary.
Note: If you prefer your laing to be rather dry, turn up the heat and continue cooking the laing, uncovered, until the mixture is dry enough for you.
- Serve the hot laing with rice and have a great meal.