Bicol express

What makes it bicol express

• Pork belly cooked down in coconut milk.
• Bagoong alamang for salt and depth.
• Chillies by the handful — long green ones and small hot ones.

Where it comes from

The cooking is Bicol's — a region that puts coconut milk and chilli into almost everything — but the name is often said to have been given in Manila, after the train that ran south to Bicol. The dish it resembles at home is often called sinilihan, from sili, chilli.

How it varies

Laing

Dried taro leaves in the same coconut and chilli, often cooked alongside.