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Filipino

Bicol Express

Bicol express is the Bicol region's gift to Philippine cuisine — a fiery stew of pork cubes with shrimp paste (bagoong), shallots, garlic, and a generous quantity of long green chillies and bird's eye chillies, cooked in coconut milk until the sauce thickens and the pork is tender. The dish is not hot in the mainstream Filipino context — it is the exception, created in a region renowned for its tolerance of and enthusiasm for heat. The coconut milk provides the cooling richness that moderates the chilli's fire; the bagoong provides the fermented depth; the pork provides the fat that carries all flavours. Bicol express represents the confluence of the Philippine coconut milk tradition with the Bicolano love of capsaicin.

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ServesFour portions
Sourced0of 8 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

700 g
pork belly or shoulder
cut into 2–3 cm cubes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 ml
full-fat coconut milk
Your own market
150 g
long green chillies
seeds removed from half the quantity, remainder left whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
bird's eye chillies
left whole, seeds in
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
3 tbsp
bagoong (shrimp paste)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
shallots
finely sliced
Your own market
4 cloves
garlic
finely chopped
Your own market
2 tbsp
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II

The Method

1
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Add the bagoong and sauté, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes. The paste should lose its raw, aggressive pungency and mellow to a rounded, savoury aroma.
From the canon — The production technique (bagoong alamang): harvest fresh alamang (krill-sized shrimp, Acetes species). Bagoong (Fermented Shrimp/Fish Paste) →
2
Add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Cook until the shallots are softened and translucent, 3–4 minutes, stirring to prevent the garlic from colouring.
3
Add the pork cubes and turn to coat in the paste. Cook over medium-high heat until the exterior of the pork is no longer pink on any side.
4
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Add all the long green chillies and the bird's eye chillies. This is where the dish lives or dies: the chilli quantity must be committed to in full — timid reduction here produces a mild coconut pork that is not Bicol express. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pork is fully tender and yields without resistance when pressed, and the coconut milk has reduced and concentrated, coating the pork rather than pooling beneath it. The surface of the sauce should show rendered fat separating and the colour will have deepened.
5
Taste and adjust for salt. The sauce should cling to the pork cubes. If the sauce remains pourable, continue reducing over medium heat until it thickens to a clinging consistency.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Pasture-raised pork belly with high fat marbling; hand-pounded artisanal bagoong from a single producer; freshly pressed coconut milk; chillies sourced from Bicol province.
02
Estate — Good-quality pork shoulder or belly from a known butcher; imported Filipino bagoong of a named brand; canned full-fat coconut milk (first pressing); fresh chillies from a specialist market.
03
Market — Supermarket pork belly; widely available canned full-fat coconut milk; standard bagoong from an Asian grocery; fresh long green and bird's eye chillies from any produce market.
04
House — Any cut of pork with adequate fat (avoid lean loin); full-fat coconut milk is mandatory — light coconut milk is not a substitute; bagoong may not be omitted or replaced.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Smell. Sautéed bagoong smells savoury and rounded, not raw or aggressively pungent.
◇Touch. Pork cubes yield without resistance when pressed with a spoon — no springback, no fibrous resistance.
◇Sight. Rendered fat visibly separates at the surface of the sauce and the sauce clings to the pork rather than pooling on the plate.
◇Smell. The raw coconut note has cooked off; the aroma is rich, concentrated, and deeply savoury with capsaicin heat on the sinuses.
◇Where it lives or dies. The chilli quantity must be committed to in full and the coconut milk reduced until the sauce clings — insufficient chilli or insufficient reduction each independently disqualify the dish.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Blandy's Sercial Colheita Madeira
Blandy's · Madeira
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Fortified wine
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

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The whole pairing
Pillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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