(Chicago) – Pork belly and coconut milk? This combination is a no-brainer –one of my all-time favorite Pinoy dishes . The spiciness and creaminess of this dish make it perfect with rice. And any dish that makes me eat humongous amount of rice is an ultimate comfort food for me. This is one of them. Hope you like Bicol Express too! 🙂
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs Pork Belly (Liempo), cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 14 oz (400 ml) coconut milk
- 3 large poblano peppers, seeded and sliced thinly
- 1 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 thumb-size ginger, finely chopped
- 4 stalks of green onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons shrimp paste (bagoong)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or fresh siling labuyo)
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large wok or heavy skillet on medium high. If you have Dutch oven or cast iron pot, it would be better. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Put pork pieces in the pan and brown all sides. Cook in 2-3 batches so you get a good browning of the meat. Remove pork from pan using slotted spoon and set aside in a separate bowl with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Spoon out some of the oil and reduce heat to medium. Sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant for about 2 minutes. Do not toast the garlic. Add onion and cook until translucent for another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, shrimp paste, jalapeno and cayenne pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and add the browned pork. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add poblano peppers and cook for 10 more minutes, uncovered. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Garnish with green onions. All done! Serve with hot white rice.
