

Pinangat is usually eaten with rice or as a side dish to grilled pork or seafood, just like laing. It is also called tilmok, tinuktok, or tinulmok in some areas of Bicol. Bicolanos also like to use smoked fish for their pinangat.

It’s a popular stew originating from Camalig, Albay that showcases Bicol’s abundant resources – aside from coconut milk and sili, it also makes use of taro leaves, which is another key element in many Bicolano dishes. The meat-veggie “pouch” is then slowly steamed in coconut milk, peppers, and spices until everything is tender, soft, tasty, and creamy. Since then, it dwindled in numbers, but then shot back up in March 2021 with 32.5 searches, beating Bicol express that month.Īuthentic pinangat na gabi uses whole gabi leaves that are wrapped around pork or fish (pinangat na isda) using a banana or coconut leaf. We gata hand it to laing – this creamy vegetable dish came in a close second to Bicol express! The dish reached its peak in June 2020 at 44 searches, and stayed strong until August with over 35 searches. Just like many Filipino dishes, Bicol express can be served differently depending on the region or household, but it almost always ends up the same hot, spicy, and filling creamy meat stew that’s perfect with warm rice. It is said that Cely named the dish after the train traveling from Manila’s Paco station to Bicol. Inspired by the creaminess and spiciness of Bicolanos’ native gulay na lada (vegetable with chili), she adapted her own take on the traditional stew at her restaurant in Manila, adding pork belly strips and shrimp paste to the dish but keeping Bicol’s star ingredients of gata (coconut milk/cream) and lots of sili. It was popularized in Malate, Manila by a woman named Cely Kalaw from Laguna, whose childhood was mostly spent in Naga City, Bicol. In March 2021, it was beaten by laing by a mere two searches, as Bicol express had 30 while laing had 32.Ĭontrary to common belief, Bicol express isn’t actually a Bicolano dish. This spicy, creamy dish made it to number one in terms of search popularity – it reached a whopping 81 searches in May 2020 at the height of last year’s lockdown. Which dishes made it to the top five? Here’s what the numbers have to say! Bicol express Coming from the knowledge that Bicolano cuisine is a popular choice among diners and home cooks around the country, data company Nerve did a scan on the most popular Bicolano recipes people around Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao searched for online from January 2020 to August 2021. We wanted to know what kind of recipes people were cooking up from their homes in the past year in lockdown. Despite the convenience of food deliveries and take-out, nothing really beats the taste and comfort of home-cooked food, especially if it’s a recipe from childhood or inspired by a favorite regional delicacy. We have versions of our Pansit Bato recipes that we could share from Janis, Ludwig and Mark.With most of the country in lockdown since March 2020, home cooks – both new and experienced – saw themselves spending more time in the kitchen. Its distinctive texture became a popular choice for pansit lovers, and then everything else is history right after. A local Bato resident in Camarines Sur, first invented this type of pancit noodle that is unique to other noodles. The term Pansit Bato is based on the name of the town in Bicol, where this type of noodle originated from. This rice noodle dish, similar to the Chinese Chow Mein, never gets old and continues to be a favorite among Filipinos. Whether you prefer Canton, Malabon, Bihon, Lomi or Bato noodles, Pansit can be cooked to suit your tastes.

Over time, many types of noodles and various cooking styles have expanded, and that’s how Pansit came out to be. Centuries ago, Chinese immigrants introduced noodles to the Filipinos and over time, Pansit has become a beloved local dish with various cooking styles and types of noodles.

It’s cooked in different variations depending on your choice of rice noodles. We call it Pansit, the Chinese version of Chow Mein. It’s a rice noodle recipe that everybody loves, and it never gets old.
