Dried taro leaves simmered low and slow in coconut milk with chilies, shrimp paste, and pork until rich, creamy, and deeply spicy. Bicol's signature vegetable dish, and proof that "vegetable-forward" doesn't mean mild.
Laing is the dish most associated with Bicolano cooking's two defining traits — heavy coconut milk and serious chili heat — alongside its cousin, Bicol express. Where Bicol express uses pork belly as the star, laing puts a leafy green front and center, simmered until it's soft, rich, and almost custardy from all the coconut fat it absorbs.
The technique matters as much as the ingredients. Taro leaves have to be dried (or thoroughly wilted) and then simmered a good while, undisturbed, or they leave an itchy, irritating sensation in the mouth. Patience during cooking is what turns a genuinely tricky leaf into one of the country's most beloved vegetable dishes.
Dried taro leaves, sold in most Asian grocery stores, are much easier to work with than fresh — they're already prepped for the long simmer laing needs.
Raw taro leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals that cause an itchy, irritated feeling in the mouth and throat if undercooked. Drying (or thoroughly wilting) the leaves first, along with a long simmer, breaks this down and makes them safe and pleasant to eat.
Stirring too early can bruise the delicate leaves and release more of the irritating compounds before they've had time to break down. Traditional technique lets the leaves sit undisturbed until they've softened, only stirring gently afterward.
Leave out the pork and use a smaller amount of shrimp paste or substitute a vegetarian fermented soybean paste — the coconut milk and chilies still carry most of the dish's character.
