WHAT IS REAL BICOL EXPRESS?

[@SidRamirez-zx7es]

showed my aunt Featr's bicol series and she was so happy with all the videos. This one will surely be included.

[@joycemira247]

Abroad po ang available dito shrimps paste nlng in a jar, hindi tulad sa Bicol maraming “balaw” po, we normally cook bicol express with a lot of balaw, sometimes with karne pero konti lang, but most of the time balaw lang, madaming sili, at madaming gata na mag dry to oily na po. Kasi pwede namin keep yun lahit hindi naka lagay sa fridge mag stay po ng matagal ng bicol express pag dry and oily. Kaya dito po sa abroad naman hindi po masyado masarap ang bicol express

[@seeing_red9815]

As a person who is a Bicolano who has seen the rest of this channel's content on the true Bicolano items, I really appreciate all the content that you have posted relating to my hometown. I really appreciate the research that your team has put into it. The team could have gone deeper into researching the truer versions of the dishes that you have featured. But compared to all the others that have featured those dishes, your channel was the only one that was well researched. I would have liked you featuring more the versions that were served in the houses of Bicolanos, specifically the gulay sili( or Bicol Express), the kinunot and the sinantolan. But i really liked how you took on the issue about the different types of gata.

[@crunchnos]

they actually did there are other videos they made when they went to bicol that featured those very dishes.

[@vercillevinculado2076]

Kara David documented that Sipocot is one of the originals of Bicol Express. Sipocot is in Camarines Sur.

[@suhugo9546]

Love love love your Bicol video! My parents are from Bicol. ❤❤❤ Bicol is the best of what the Philippines has to offer. The kindest and warmest people you will meet. Both the mothers of Catriona and Celeste are from the Bicol region.

[@michadventureinjapan6446]

Masiram!!! Naga City is my hometown we Bikolanos appreciate you so much for showing our especialty. Dios Mabalos!

[@kentokenyama3449]

Sometimes we add carabao's or cow's skin for the texture in our bicol express.

[@marygracevillar]

kktuwa nmn ... bikol express, nbbgyan attention ng husto dto s Channel n ito and may more bikolano foods and other stuff....💗💗

[@joycemira247]

Saraaaaaaaaap! Yummy po yan. Nakakamiss po sa Naga, dahil abroad hindi namin maluto dito yung way na meron at available pag nasa Bicol. Thank you FEATR for this episode.

[@featrmedia]

Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@joycemira247]

@@featrmedia watching from Abu Dhabi po💗. Originally from Naga City🥰 subscriber po ako ng channel nyo since Erwan Heussaf pa then naging FEATR na 💕

[@intentionallife2090]

In Sorsogon, most of the unique dishes are found in homes not restaurants. So I suggest you connect with a family/ies there to taste authentic Sorsogon food. We have a version of the pinangat that is just plain dried gabi leaves cooked in coconut milk, with a sprinkling of dried fish. Or crabs in coconut cream with pako fern. Or kinagang (which is fresh water shrimp fat mixed with young coconut - not buko but a bit more mature than buko). Or simply cocido (which is clear fish soup with camote tops and calamansi) and. We also have taguktok (alumahan cooked in vinegar, spices and coco milk). For desserts there are kinaluko (gabi root hollowed out inside and stuffed with mashed gabi and young coconut and cooked in what else, coco milk). Or my mother's signature dessert, dulce na silot ( sweetened youngbuko strips to an almost glassy finish with added lemoncito for tartness). The Bicol Express we have in our home has a 2:1 chili pork ratio, cooked in reduced coconut milk so that it is only the coco oil that remains. It is not creamy but rather spicy and oily.

[@konnichiwa7719]

Lintian nag ralaway lugod ako sada na pagkaon na sinabi mo tuig na pati ako sada di nakatadi.😅

[@netteesltutor2773]

Bicolana here ... i usually add coconut "sapal" (coconut pulp) or sometimes "desiccated coconut" to thicken / add a little sweetness to the spiciness of the bicol express .... its my great grandma's technique ...

[@raymondandes5311]

your great grandma's technique? this should be known to market manila who said that bicol express was concocted at a makati-based restaurant!

[@netteesltutor2773]

My great grandma's technique in cooking niyog recipes like laing and pinangat ... she would àlways add dessicated coconut or sapal ....bicol express was invented in the 1960s ... my lola made her version in the 70s

[@darthbiker2311]

@@raymondandes5311 He's right. Cely Kalaw was the restaurant owner who invented it, using a lot of influences from Bicolano cuisine. (The Kalaws were from Batangas but lived in Bicol during World War II.) Her customers complained of her laing's spiciness, so she decided to separate it into two dishes. The first one is a mild-tasting laing. The other is what's essentially chilis sauteed in lard, pork bits and bagoong to taste, thickened with kakang gata. It wasn't meant to be a dish in itself because it was too spicy, but if customers wanted spicy laing then they could order it as a direct add-on. Kalaw entered the dish into a cooking contest but didn't have a name for it. It was her brother who named it after a passing Bicol Express train, as a tribute to its Bicolano influences. It is not the same dish as the Bicolano "version" although similar. For one thing, Kalaw intended Bicol express to be mixed into laing to give the laing its original spicy kick - laing in Bicol was very hot and spicy. (Incidentally, in making Bicol express, Kalaw innovated on another dish, laing, by making it less spicy and more palatable for non-Bicolanos.) Bicolanos also use fresh, unfermented, unsalted balaw into their dish. They also use less pork meat. But Bicol express was and is a catchy name. For that, it was easy to overlook the few differences it had with the Bicolano dish, and the name stuck. And that's fine. Adobo is a foreign word too, but the Spaniards who first tasted it decided to focus on its similarities with adobado and did not nitpick on how it was different from their own adobado and decided to call it adobo de los naturales.

[@raymondandes5311]

@@darthbiker2311 If you're implying that Bicol Express is a milder version of Laing, you are totally wrong.

[@darthbiker2311]

@@raymondandes5311 No, it's supposed to be an add-on to Cely Kalaw's milder laing in order to bring its spice level closer to the original laing.

[@milastark1975]

My late Father will protect our growing chilies first during typhoons before taking care of our house defenses 😄😂

[@johnallenvillones7322]

Ahaha, legit. Sa mahal ba naman ng chili ngayon, malanta na lahat pati palay huwag lang ang sili. 😂😂

[@BongiePilapilMacas]

thats 😂funny😂

[@mesheraliuga8589]

Since many bikolano dish were already featured..i think you should also feature SINARAPAN.. THE GUINESS WORLDS SMALLEST EDIBLE FISH.. and it can only be found in lake buhi in camarines sur.

[@christianate1489]

Mas masarap talaga ang bicol express pag yung coconut milk turned into oil na. 😍 Bicolano here

[@efrensismundocreaton3225]

Thanks Ewan and the whole team...for featuring our own Bicol express...Godbless

[@wowmawc]

making your own alamang(bagoong) to use for such dishes is a game changer, also I use Kasim and not liempo.

[@tokyomegabuster]

Iba talaga ang gata na mula sa niyog mismo, na kinayod. There are lots of copycat coconut curries out there, but none of them will beat the original one. (Iyong pipigain mo iyong niyog sa mainit na tubig para lumabas ang katas.) 😋😋😋😋😋

[@raymondandes5311]

I think the most authentic Bicol express I've ever tasted can be found at Small Talk Cafe in Legazpi City. No additional ingredients - just the default ones. And to know if it's indeed the authentic version, it really has to be spicy. The ones I've tasted in Manila or even here in Bicol but the chains began somewhere else are a little too sweet for me and lacks the spicy flavor that I'm looking for.

[@mgshobbies23]

One of the best spicy food, pulutan or ulam! Bicol Express! 😋🌶🌶🌶

[@featrmedia]

Best with beer! 🍻

[@joycemira247]

Tama po.😊

[@interritus_umbra000]

educational video thanks sir erwanne and the rest of featr media crew. thank you again for featuring one of our main dishes here in Bicol. 🌶️🥥

[@raymondandes5311]

Bicol Express is spicier here in Bicol. The ones I've tasted in Manila are sweet --- not the Bicol Express I'm accustomed to! :P

[@jedreston]

Beer playing in the background… hahaha

[@Ash-xx5zd]

As an ignorant adopted Filipino, I will never be able to stomach that. But I soooo much enjoyed learning the culture and if I ever have to impress true Filipinos, I'm glad there's a recipe I can rip off from. Lol. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 thank you. Video idea: I would like to know about a few topics of Philippines history and demographics that's not easy to find remotely. Perhaps you can cover them as locals knowledgeable outside of the propaganda and nationalism machine. 1) the racial divide of skin depth. Dark Filipinos are indegenious? 2) native/tribal Filipino roots and how their traditional still remain to this day...? And 3) the ISIS problem. How serious is extremism in Philippines? How do locals avoid touble...is it like Latin societies where natives are fairly left alone by drug gangs? Is geographical Island isolationism really cause difficulties in unifying the country thus, making it easier for sectors to becoming rebel hotspots? Thank you. Really enjoying a nuanced review of Bicol!

[@kentokenyama3449]

Thank you for showcasing our delicacies in your videos.

[@moekusaki]

What did you add in 4:25 as substitute for the bagoong? Thanks!

[@featrmedia]

It's bagoong! Substitute for Balaw

[@wowmawc]

probably just your regular cooked alamang, store bought.

[@raymondandes5311]

Balaw is still better IMO

[@moekusaki]

Thank you! I misheard it as adding one tablespoon of "star-" or something lol. I guess you said one tablespoon to start 🥴

[@thepreparedpinoychannel]

@@featrmedia IMO, the bad thing using commercial bagoong is that it will have a burnt taste(if you sauteed it with the aromatics) and will sometimes have some sweetness in it. I will still go for balaw for the authentic taste if you are calling it that(authentic). The use of pigs face is actually a nice idea. i'll be stealing that hahaha

[@normanherrera6202]

Please give credit to where credit is due. The dish was concocted by AUNTIE CELY KALAW, who had a restaurant aptly called BICOL EXPRESS, off Makati Avenue. She is eating the dish everyday in heaven ...

[@sairepuesto2363]

Must try the bicol express at Casa Soriano in Naga city. One of the authentic bicol express I've ever tasted. 👌

[@henryyu4987]

The original express is created by calamities. Bicol is always hit by strong typhoon. And after a strong typhoon, the coconut trees are striped of their leaves and coconut. So many coconuts and gabi leaves lying around. So mix the coconut milk and gabi leaves, you have bicol express. Thru time, flavors are improved by adding other ingredients.

[@dkvon]

My mom adds pineapples and kamias for her Bicol Express.

[@featrmedia]

Sounds divine! 😍

[@joycemira247]

Minsan po try nyo din ang libas 😊

[@milacaibal3976]

That's a different Bicol express. Being a Bicolana. This is the way we cook Bicol Express. We use Laing or dry Gabi leaves. Cook it in Coconut milk with hot chili peppers, Salted shrimps and pieces of crunchy pork. Cook the veggies until the Coconut milk becomes oily and a little bit dry but not watery. Then, serve it with pieces of sliced green and red chili 🌶 peppers or labuyo. That's our Bicol express. The other version, although it's delicious but it's not the original dish. Thanks for sharing your vlogs. 🥰 🥰😋

[@thepreparedpinoychannel]

Bako man Bicol Express ang gulay na natong. Orig Bicol Express is Balaw and pork sauteed in aromatics and simmered in lots of sili and gata

[@hellshire11]

yap lovin the bicol series. sana pati sa ibang region hehe

[@Ordellseedd]

If you want to eat Original Bicol Express, yoy don't go to fancy restaurants!? You go straight to lutong bahay carinderias. Yung mga lutong bahay ng mga manay sa kada barangay. yun ang legit.

[@aurearosal7710]

The best way to eat the local foods is to eat in the carinderia.

[@doctorcatmeowmeow9619]

one time yung bicol express na nakain ko sa sobrang anghang mapait na…i consider my spice tolerance high yung buldak x2 noodle challenge i ate it no prob pero yung bicol express kada subo kelangan inom ng tubig sa sobrang anghang..😅

[@mangmong8014]

Nagmukhang latik na sa dami ng nailagay na gata Chef. Hehehe

[@samsondelilah9161]

real bicol express is actually not the ones made from bicol, the "Manila Bicol ExpresS" is the original bicol express and they are made with veggies, meat and coconut milk. Bicol Express in bicol is made of chillies, meat, coconut milk and a type of small fish.

[@zoeyblancaflor4435]

Happy new year erw and family!

[@bradleyadsuara5033]

Looks awesome are those Thai chili's your using? And how many did you use hot spicy is it?

[@milastark1975]

Yummy! Go Erwan

[@John-vh3ig]

Interesting info and taste!

[@John-vh3ig]

Looks like for tuna sandwich in texture. But, the taste is delicious! Needs more solid pieces of meat. I think.

[@manilagirltours8940]

thanks for this! i'll just lessen the spicy things 😅 this is easy thanks 😊👍💗

[@johnmarkrobles8587]

I love the Maskara Bicol express but I also like the drier chunky version of Bicol express. I kinda want to add the crispy Maskara on the Drier version. That'll be awesome. 🤤 Then there's the background music of "Beer" by Itchyworms, makes want to drink while eating it. 🤩

[@jonathanwick5706]

the bicol express i know has the green chili as the main ingredient, and with less pork meat.

[@genelynacebedo2138]

I just made this last week crispy bicolexpress lols

[@gggghhhhhhhggh]

Naga City is not the only place in Bicol. Albay has more authentic Bicolano foods than anywhere else.

[@josesuch4962]

Lol that's not a bicol express, that's an effing chicharon. Bicolano ako, hindi nilalagyan ng ginisang bagoong ang bicol express. Alamang po ang nilalagay, yung salted na fresh alamang yung kulay pink pa. Susmaryosep kulay brown yung bicol express nya parang kaldereta ang texture, ang bicol express nagmamantika kasi yung coconut milk, naging coconut oil sa tagal ng pagkakaluto.

[@BongiePilapilMacas]

letsgo❤

[@frankiefernandez9225]

🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶BICOL EXPRESS 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@felixandalis4934]

In our place we cook bicol express in different way....

[@thepreparedpinoychannel]

The last series you just finished is more of Camarines Sur and not representing the entirety of Bicols great and vast dishes. Pinangat for one is more common in Albay, particularly in Camalig. There are also a ton of Bicol Express version that is far better than what you ate in Cam Sur(who for me are commercialized) from the other parts of the region. You even havent tried sinapot and kinalingking which are local and old snacks common in Albay. Sorry maybe my being an Albayano is just biased and jealous that you did not pushed to our province.

[@abonay3764]

As another avid Albayano supporter of this channel, I agree with you, sir. Also, they should feature the Sorsogonon seafood. Still, kudos to the team for exploring our unique cuisine.

[@featrmedia]

We are planning to go to Albay as well, please send us leads [e-mail]

[@featrmedia]

@@abonay3764 we've actually shot in Sorsogon twice and never found local style dishes that we can't find anywhere else in the country, maybe we werent looking in the right places, please send us an email if you know of any local dishes that we missed [e-mail]

[@raymondandes5311]

Bicol is a huge peninsula with two island provinces but for some reason it's always lumped up into one. Other people even mistake it for a single province lol. But the truth is, it's almost like every town has its own dialect and there are many languages all over Bicol. Maybe for convenience, they lump it up into one so that viewers would find the video easy to comprehend. But then again, one of the videos tells us the "best food in Bicol" without even showing all the other parts of the region, or even getting to know the other parts of the region and their delicacies. For me, that's a little premature. You have to be very well-acquainted with the region before saying one dish is better than the rest.

[@raymondandes5311]

@@featrmedia sent you an e-mail... but my favorite local delicacies are served here in our home. other places you might want to try are small talk cafe, 1st colonial grill and cres snack inn

[@bryllemagos8730]

Eyyy 1 min gang

[@gknowkalyedose4842]

If its meaty and less spicy. Its not bicol express 😊

[@ALPOTEROragon]

dapat yung amount nung karne at sili dapat the same or mas madami pa dapat sili. it's not bicol express kung hindi maanghang

[@pabulayanlyndonnmigueld.3304]

paano nyo nagawang ganun yung texture dun sa gata???

[@pabulayanlyndonnmigueld.3304]

sinubukan ko maraming beses laging malapot ang kinalalabasan huhuhi

[@AnhNguyen-oh6ht]

Bicol express is more sili and balaw..

[@penpineappleapplepen6574]

wow

[@mayumipili941]

Erwan what are you doing?

[@steffiniez]

❤❤❤

[@Colbzkie187]

Dai ka man tatao mgluto erwan

[@Bailinogon1991]

😍🙏

[@fjckajan9845]

Yymmy

[@WalkWithHazel2.0]

You should’ve visited Albay. Food wise we have so much more to offer and our pinangat is way better. just sayin 😉😎

[@John-rw7jf]

Hi FEATR! kulang na kulang sa/ng BALAW!!!!!!! Its not bikol express without or unting Balaw (it’s about 1:1 ratio ng pork to balaw!!!! Anu bayan, pumunta na sa Naga, sana po tinanong nyu yung ingredients. Pork, Balaw, Sili at Gata.

[@kiel319]

Ang daming hanash mo brad. Kanya kanyang version yan.

[@dericktors_cut]

You know Bicol express doesn't always have coconut milk. You can cook it with just the bagoong and fried liempo. For the one with coconut milk, you can add string beans. 👌

[@Gdgxxfh]

Dafuq you are talking about. It’s not Bicol express without gata. The meal you are describing as just bagoong and fried liempo is called binagoongan. If you add coconut milk and string beans you will have the manila version. The bicolano version does not have vegies on it. It’s just sili, gata, pork and balaw.

[@windbreaker57]

BE with pineapple? Not spicy? What is that, atchara?

[@junpasa]

👌

[@julmacfunchum]

Please correct me if im wrong but Bicol Express is a Manila Dish. Not Bicol.

[@raymondandes5311]

Who said so? My great grandma knew how to cook this dish and she was born in 1901!

[@dandiaz2503]

This is off topic, but the girl is pretty. Haha

[@russelltan6803]

Ang plastoc!

[@debonairey]

Sa canteen ng UST Legazpi wagi ang Bicol Express

[@ricco1432]

You're all living in the Philippines but somehow you resist to speak in Tagalog. You should all cultivate eloquence in speaking your own language especially if you live in the Philippines. It's interesting to see that foreigners (eg Koreans, Aussies, Americans and many other nationalities) love to learn Tagalog and be eloquent in it. I live in Melbourne and I make sure I use Tagalog in talking with other Filipinos so I maintain a part of our culture. And I'm proud of it. Hay nakoh.

[@EHLAiNEEE]

It's not that we "resist" speaking in Tagalog. With all due respect, we were raised by our parents by speaking NOT FULL tagalog. We use TAGLISH, so why are you flaming us when we were brought up like this? Is it our fault? I hope you consider that kind of perspective as well as a Foreigner that is trying to understand our culture.

[@amberguis]

'Di lang naman kase Pinoy po ang viewers nila. Iba't ibang nationalities din po. Mas ok na English ang gamitin nila kesa magkamali naman sila sa ibang terms na magagamit kase di sila sanay sa Tagalog. At dahil nililibot nila ibang province ng Pinas, may iba't iba pa tayong dialect. 'Di lahat ng nasa province nakakaintindi ng tagalog pero karamihan sa kanila magagaling at nakakaintindi sa english. Ganun din sa tulad kong tagalog ang salita, bilang lang ang naiintindihan kong salita sa ibang dialect natin, mas nakakaintindi ako ng english. Hindi naman siguro masama 'yun hehe. Sa paggawa ng content pag aaralan rin demographic kineme ng mga audience. Karamihan sa viewers nila nakakaintindi ng english. Nagtatagalog din naman sila sa iba nilang content ☺ di lang madalas pero ginagawa pa rin naman nila.

[@MartinNisms]

Huwag kang mag-alala, lahat kami nagtatagalog sa studio haha kahit si Erwan nagpapractice dahil samin.

[@featrmedia]

We are trying to push Filipino food outside of the Philippines as well, so it's a delicate balance :) our documentaries always feature people speaking Tagalog.

[@chademackenzie8597]

They need to use the universal language for global audience, my husband watches Erwan’s video when he cooks Filipino dinner. I incorporate Filipino words in my conversations at home and at work, most of the time they enjoy learning new words.

[@xxxnini]

Yey!!! Thanks for visitng our hometown!!

[@joycemira247]

Masaya din ako na featured ang Naga City😊

[@Gdgxxfh]

Not authentic. You have to use balaw or any uncooked alamang will do. You also need to use bigger sili. We call it Baguio sili but not sure if it’s form Baguio. Don’t use labuyo cause it will be super spicy. The ones we use in Bicol are not that spicy that’s why we can tolerate the heat even if you put a lot in the dish. Authentic Bicol express has more sili than meat they say and using the right sili will allow you to have that. Of course you can put more meat if you want this to become your main dish but authentic Bicol express is really more of a side dish

[@martinsavellano4815]

keya pela

[@Henyo1070]

I hate the "Bicol Express" in Metro Manila. For a Bicolano I cannot take the fake versions who pass it off as one.

[@alysonmargaux827]

Crazy! Now tell me why are there lots of versions of bicol express in bicol??? Haha

[@JosephFabs]

Ok po.

[@Henyo1070]

@@alysonmargaux827 there may be slight variations but the basic ingredients are the same. Pork, balaw and lots of sili cooked in gata. I once saw Bicol Express in Metro Manila with talong and sitaw. Wow!

[@raymondandes5311]

Bicol Express in Bicol is spicier. It ain't Bicol Express if it's not spicy... so I prefer the local versions here

[@raymondandes5311]

@@alysonmargaux827 It's because every family has their own version. Another reason is that, it probably originated here instead of there in Manila as suggested by one blogger.

[@justchii275]

Loved the video but the elitism in the comments section are 💀

[@raymondandes5311]

I'm not sure what you mean but the title of the video says "Real Bicol Express." It invites controversy and debate, especially since people disagree on where Bicol Express really originated from, and now this video, which essentially invites people to debate on what an "authentic/real" Bicol express actually consists of.

[@ball183]

Nakakabusog yung accent ni Erwan noh? SKL.

[@annietakumi4595]

conyo. unrelatable.

[@kwunyurn]

Someone please teach him how to cook...he just fried then boiled the meat, then threw out the "broth", Erwan just go to culinary school buddy...