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Filipino

Bicol express

Non-vegetarian

Pork belly simmered in coconut milk and cream with shrimp paste and a generous amount of long green and bird's eye chillies until rich, creamy and fiery.

Bicol express is a Filipino main course from Philippines, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with pork belly, coconut milk and green chilli. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

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Bicol express: pork in coconut milk with green and red chillies
Photo: Derk29 / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
50 min
Total
1 h 5 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
656

Ingredients

6 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Render the pork in the oil over medium heat until lightly browned and some fat has melted. Pour off excess fat.

  2. Step 2

    Add the onion (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab) and ginger and cook until soft, then stir in the shrimp paste (opens in a new tab) and fish sauce (opens in a new tab).

    • 4 min
    • medium heat
    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Pour in the coconut milk (opens in a new tab) and simmer gently, uncovered, until the pork is tender and the sauce reduced by half.

    • 30 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Cook pork until the centre reaches at least 63 °C (71 °C for minced pork).

    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Add the coconut cream (opens in a new tab) and all the chillies and simmer until thick and the oil begins to separate. Season with salt and serve with rice.

    • 8 min
    • low heat
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Bicol (named after it), Philippines · Commonly attributedNamed after the Bicol region and its train; the dish as known today is often credited to Manila cooks.More food from Philippines
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Main courses · Stews & braises
Cooking method
Simmered, Stewed
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), creamy, rich, umami
Diet
No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labelsNon-vegetarian · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Pork belly · Coconut milk · Green chilli · Onion · Garlic · Fresh ginger
Techniques
Simmering · Stewing · Reduction

Allergens

  • Contains: Fishfrom fish sauce
  • Contains: Crustaceansfrom shrimp paste, fish sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

656 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 208 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 6%
  • Carbohydrate 4%
  • Fat 89%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy656 kcal316 kcal
Protein10.6 g5.1 g
Carbohydrate7.5 g3.6 g
Net carbohydrate——
Sugars——
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre——
Fat66.2 g31.9 g
Saturated fat33.8 g16.3 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol60 mg29 mg
Sodium446 mg215 mg
Salt equivalent1.1 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
454 mg
Calcium
32 mg
Iron
3.2 mg
Magnesium
52 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
9 µg
Vitamin C
29 mg
Vitamin D
—
Vitamin B12
0.7 µg
Folate (DFE)
22 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: long-grain white rice.
  • Shrimp paste: Fish sauce (FDC 174531) at 1.5× as a stand-in salted fermented seafood condiment; protein is understated.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Seed some of the long chillies for a milder dish without losing their flavour.

Common mistakes

  • Boiling the coconut milk hard at the start, which makes it curdle before the pork is tender.

Serve with

  • Lots of steamed rice is essential.

Storage

  • Keeps 3 days refrigerated; tastes better the next day.

Reheating

  • Reheat gently on the stove.

Variations

  • Laing: A Bicolano relative made with dried taro leaves in coconut milk.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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