Bicol Express

Bicol Express (Bikol: Sinilihan -chillied) is a popular Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolano style.

Bicol Express' original name escapes my memory. The late Tita Cely Kalaw coined this dish when she was preparing this dish in her small house adjacent to the railroad tract in San Andres Bukid. When the train passed by she decided to call it Bicol Express since the train was on its way to Bicol and the dish was hot and spicy. Tita Cely started the buffet style kalde-kaldero in the 70's in Davao. Thus the kalde-kaldero tuto-turo came to be.

Bicol Express is a stew made from long chilies (siling mahaba in Tagalog, lada panjang in Malay/Indonesian), coconut milk, shrimp paste or fish stock, onion, pork, and garlic. It is said to have been inspired by the fiery Bicolano dish gulay na may lada, which is nowadays presented as one of the many variants of Bicol Express.