THE BICOL (SIAMESE) EXPRESS

(Based on a Thai/Siamese Recipe)
Yield: 6 Servings

1/4 cup Cooking oil
1 tb Chopped garlic
1/2 cup Chopped onions
1/4 cup Chopped fresh ginger
2 tbs. Dilao (fresh turmeric)
1 kg Cooked pork sliced into 1/2" strips
1 1/2 tbs. Chopped hot chili (siling Pasitis or Labuyo among Tagalog)
1 1/2 cups Bagoong alamang
6 cups Coconut cream
2 cups Fresh hot green peppers (elongated variety) sliced diagonally into 1/4" strips
1 1/2 cups Fresh hot red peppers (elongated variety) sliced diagonally into 1/4" strips

Saute garlic in hot oil. Add onions and cook until translucent. Stir in fresh ginger, dilao, and the sliced cooked pork. Stir continually for 5 minutes. Add bagoong alamang and chopped hot chili (siling Labuyo). Stir until the pork is completely covered by the mixture. (Continue to cook for about 15 minutes.) Pour in 6 cups of coconut cream and add the sliced hot green and red peppers. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes. Add salt if necessary.

Note: More chili and peppers may be added according to spiciness desired.
Caution: Have "fire extinguisher" ready for non-Bicolano or non-Thai eaters.

Here is a version of the Sea-Food Bicol Express:

half kilo of pusit (tubo de mare)
half kilo of cooked mussels
half kilo of shrimps (shelled)
1 can of tuna or mackerel
1 table spoon of bagoong alamang
1 kilo of red and green pepperoni (sliced)
1 table spoon of finely chopped siling labuyo
1 table spoon of finely chopped ginger or a sprig of lemon grass (tanglad)
1 table spoon of finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
salt to taste
2-3 cans of thick coconut milk

Cook squid on low fire without water. Do not overcook. Remove squid from
pan and slice to preferred sizes.

Using juice from squid, put coconut, tuna, bagoong alamang, 1 table spoon
of salt, siling labuyo, garlic, onion, ginger (or lemon grass) and bring to
boil; simmer, and occasionally stir. When mixture gets thick and oily, put
pepperoni, cooked mussels, shrimps, and squid, then cover. Salt to
taste. Cook on low fire for 5-7 minutes and serve while hot.

From Corrine A Torres, here is another Bicol-Express recipe:

1 cup shrimp-(shelled)
1 cup pork (sliced thin)
1 cup squid (sliced)
1 pc. onion 2 cloves garlic
2 cups coconut milk
4 pcs. big green jalapeno
ground pepper and salt to taste:
Procedure:
Saute the garlic and onion. Add the pork, shrimp, squid and jalapeno.
Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and bring to boil till creamy. Serving for five.

No offense meant to our Quezon-based friends, but some recipes are what my friends and I call the "Lucena Express," for it lacks the sufficient amount of pepper and chili. Ang anghang di naka-abot sa Bicol (not even at the Quezon-Camarines Norte boundary).

The distinguishing feature of the Bicol Express dish is that the gulay (vegetable) in it is composed of the sliced red and green peppers (as sliced diagonally into 1/4" strips) and the pang-pa-anghang (sic) is the "pasitis" or siling Labuyo. Any dish purporting to be the Bicol Express that lacks the "pasitis" can only be dubbed the 'Lucena Express."