How To Cook Laing by Kusina ni Juan

Aside from the beautiful beaches and breathtaking sceneries, Bicol is also famously known for its spicy yet savory, Laing.

Laing is a typical Bicolano cuisine that originates from the Bicol region and is commonly known for its unique ingredients of taro leaves, chilies, and coconut milk. It is also widely served during the Bicol Food Festival, where different versions of Laings are featured.

There is also an original version of Laing that doesn't use smaller pieces of dried taro leaves but the whole dried leaves instead. This version is more widely known in a colloquial term as Pinangat.

Pinangat is a prevalent dish in Camalig, one of the towns in Albay. The municipality even named its festival the Pinangat Festival after this famous cuisine, celebrated every year from July 10 to July 25 to honor its patron saint, St. John the Baptist.

Do you want to know other must-try cuisines on your next visit to Bicol? You can also try their tangy recipe, which is the Bicol Express. This is also one of the favorites in the region and a ubiquitous cuisine even in the Metro. Another popular dish that you must not miss is their Kinunot. It is a meal composed of a mixture of fish that typically consists of stingray or shark, coconut milk and cream, onions, garlic, baby spinach, ginger vinegar, spicy chili peppers, and fish sauce. For noodle lovers, they also have the Pancit Bato that is perfect for your merienda snacks.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for some desserts, you can have their oh-so-famous Pili for the nut lovers and Sinapot or their crispy saba bananas.

If you would like to bring the taste of Bicol into your home, you might want to give their Laing a shot. It's pretty simple and a bit healthy because it's mostly made of vegetables.

Bringing Ginataang Katnga or Laing at home

Ingredients:

• Dried taro leaves
• Coconut milk or gata
• Coconut cream or kakang gata
• Sliced ginger
• Shrimp paste or bagoong
• Smoked fish or tinapa
• Onion
• Garlic
• Salt and sugar
• Chili
• Pork shoulder / fat (optional)

How to cook:

1. Put half of the dried taro leaves into the pan.
2. Put half of the sliced ginger, shrimp paste, smoked fish, onion, garlic, salt, sugar, and chili.
3. Now, you can add the remaining dried taro leaves and ingredients. You can now also put the coconut milk or gata.
4. Cover the pan and let it boil.
5. While waiting for the Laing to boil, cook the coconut cream in another pan. Make sure to stir it while cooking frequently.
6. When the Laing starts boiling, remove the pan's cover and let it continue to simmer until the taro leaves absorb some coconut milk.
7. Once the taro leaves absorb the coconut milk, you can now put the coconut cream on top of your Laing. Then, let it boil again.
8. Transfer the Laing into a serving plate once cooked.

On the other hand, if you would like to escape the city's noisy streets and busy crowds and go to Bicol, you can now easily do it with the various development projects that the province now has.

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Build, Build, Build Projects in Bicol

Bicol's public transportation is now made better with various Build, Build, Build projects spearheaded by the Department of Public Works and Highways or DPWH.

Sorsogon Coastal Road

This is a DPWH project with a length of 5.52 kilometers and three bridges at the Daang Maharlika junction spanning the many barangays including Sirangan, Sampaloc, Balogo, and will eventually link to Pangpang, Tugos, Cambulaga, and Talisay in Sorsogon City.

Camalig Bypass Road

It is one of the recent projects opened by DPWH under Sec. Mark A. Villar. This is a 3.5-kilometer road that enables the safe flow of traffic in Camalig through its complete drainage, road safety markings, solar lighting, shoulder, and signages while giving a chance for the travelers to have a great view of the stunning and world-renowned Mayon Volcano.

Albay-Sorsogon Connector Road

This is a 15.87 km road that will connect the six bridges located on the east coast of Albay and Sorsogon provinces. Through this connector road, the national secondary roads in the region will be linked and can help cut the travel time between the City of Sorsogon and the Manito Proper by an hour. An estimate of 5,000 travelers can benefit from this project.

Cagraray Circumferential Road

Beach hopping will be made more convenient through a 40 km tourism road. It will connect barangays in the Municipality of Bacacay including Misibis, Cagbulacao, Cagraray, Cawayan, Pigcobohan and will even have its extension in Tambilagao and Langaton as well as in Cabasan and Napao. This will make the visitors' beach hopping experience cut by half to 1 ½ hour.

Camarines Sur Expressway

Aside from this, the Bicol region will also have an expressway in Camarines Sur with its 15.21 km four-lane expressway project that will link the towns of Pili and San Fernando, reducing the current travel time of 51 minutes to 11 minutes.

Bicol International Airport

With all the current Build, Build, Build projects of DPWH in the Bicol region, this newest Bicol International Airport is the grandest. 

Although it was first planned in 1996, the project was just finished recently and opened last October 7, 2021.

Read: Q3 2021 Takeaways for Homebuyers and Investors

Being called the "most picturesque gateway" because of the stunning panoramic view of the Mayon Volcano, it is estimated to serve around two million airline passengers each year. Now, traveling to Bicol from Manila is made more convenient and faster!

With its extensive structure, the airport is also expected to cater 3, 000 passengers per day from just the usual 600 guests. This is perfect, especially in terms of the tourism aspect of the Bicol region, as the country is still trying to battle the effects of the pandemic in our economy.

So far, the Bicol International Airport is being looked forward to boosting the socio-economic tourism development of Albay, Masbate, and Sorsogon.

Let us all watch the pilot episode of Kusina ni Juan! Catch this episode as Lumina Bicol shares with us the recipe of their infamous laing!

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For more information about the affordable house and lot for sale in Bicol of Lumina Homes, please contact (0917) 629 6523.

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