taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

labuyo chili ''Siling labuyo'' is a small chili pepper cultivar that developed in the Philippines after the Columbian Exchange. It belongs to the species ''Capsicum frutescens'' and is characterized by triangular fruits that grow pointing upwards. The fruit ...

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...

Bicol Region The Bicol Region, designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. It comprises six Provinces of the Philippines, provinces, four on the Bicol Peninsula (the luzon#Southeastern Luzon, southeastern end of Luzon): Albay, Ca ...

ginataan ''Ginataan'' (pronounced: ), alternatively spelled ''guinataan'', is a Filipino language, Filipino term which refers to food cooked with ''gatâ'' (coconut milk). Literally translated, ''ginataan'' means "done with coconut milk". Due to the gene ...

side dishes A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.Filipino, which is normally paired with boiled white

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

.

Names

''Laing'', meaning "dried or withered

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

in Tagalog, is the name of the dish in most parts of the Philippines. However, in the Bicol region, where it originates from, it is simply called ''pinangat.'' This name can be confused with ''

pinangat na isda ''Pinangat na isda'', also called ''pangat na isda'', is a Filipino dish from Southern Luzon consisting of fish and tomatoes stewed in a broth soured with fruits like calamansi, bilimbi, tamarind, or santol. It can also be used to cook shrim ...

'', which is a different dish made with fish cooked in a slightly sour broth similar to ''

sinigang ''Sinigang'', sometimes anglicized as sour broth, is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste. It is most often associated with tamarind (Filipino language, Filipino: ''sampalok''), although it can use other sour fruit ...

''. The confusion stems from the original meaning of the verb ''pangat'' in the languages of Southern Luzon, which simply means to cook fish or meat in a broth of water and salt. ''Laing'' is typical of Bicolano cuisine, which is known for their common use of chilis and

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

. ''Laing'' is also known as ''ginataang laing'', ''pinangat na laing'','' pinangat na gabi'' and ''ginat-ang gabi'', among other names.

Description

The original ''laing'' from the Bicol Region does not use shredded

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

leaves, but rather a whole fresh taro leaf (''natong'' in Bicolano). This version is the one most commonly referred to as ''pinangat''. The mixture usually consists of cubed pre-cooked pork, shrimp, or fish flakes (or all three) with ''

bagoong alamang Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. It is sold eith ...

'' (shrimp paste), crushed

labuyo chili ''Siling labuyo'' is a small chili pepper cultivar that developed in the Philippines after the Columbian Exchange. It belongs to the species ''Capsicum frutescens'' and is characterized by triangular fruits that grow pointing upwards. The fruit ...

,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

,

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

s,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, and ''kakang gata'' (

coconut cream Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingredient ...

). It is wrapped with the leaf and tied with a coconut leaf midrib or twine. It is then

steamed Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American Southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...

in ''gata'' (coconut milk) with a knot of '' tanglad'' (

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

) until the leaf pouches are fork tender and the coconut milk is reduced to a thick sauce. For the ''laing'' version served in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and elsewhere, it is cooked similarly, but with the leaves shredded (usually sold dried, hence the name). It also usually includes chopped leaf stalks. ''Laing'' is usually eaten with white rice, but it can also be eaten sandwiched in bread like ''

pandesal Pandesal, also written as pan de sal (, lit. "salt bread"), is a staple bread roll in the Philippines commonly eaten for breakfast. It is made of flour, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt. Description ''Pandesal'' is a popular yeast-raised bread in th ...

'' or used as a stuffing for other dishes. It is also commonly eaten as a

side dish A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

leaves to be used for ''laing'' must be prepared correctly, as they contain amounts of

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

crystals (

raphide Raphides ( ; singular ''raphide'' or ''raphis'') are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate ( prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 familie ...

s) that can sometimes cause itching and burning sensations in the mouth. They are usually washed and cooked thoroughly to avoid this. Drying can also lessen the amount of crystals.

Variants

Notable variants of ''laing'' include:

Inulukan

''Inulukan'' or ''inulokan'' is a variant of ''laing'' made from the meat of river crabs (''uluk'' or ''ulok'') wrapped in whole taro leaves and cooked in coconut milk spiced with calamansi, black pepper, and

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

. It is a specialty of

Camalig Camalig, officially the Municipality of Camalig (; ), is a municipality in the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 72,042 people. It is popularly known for its finest delicacy—Pinangat, a Bico ...

,

Albay Albay (IPA: ), officially the Province of Albay (; ; Baybayin, ᜎᜎᜏᜒᜄᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊᜌ᜔), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the isla ...

. It is also known as ''pinangat na ugama'' or ''pinangat na talangka'', from ''ugama'' and ''talangka'', other local terms for river crabs.

Linapay

''Linapay'' also known as ''tinamuk'', is a related dish from

Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital and largest town is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay, Panay Islan ...

in the

Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...

. It is made from pounded freshwater shrimp (''ueang'') mixed with ''gawud'' (grated young coconut meat) and wrapped with taro leaves (''gutaw'') and cooked in coconut milk.

Tinumok

''Tinumok'', ''tinomok'', or ''tinulmok'' is another traditional variant from Bicol which uses whole taro leaves wrapped around a mixture of

freshwater shrimp Freshwater shrimp are any shrimp which live in fresh water. This includes: *Any Caridea (shrimp) which live in fresh water, especially the family Atyidae *Species in the genus '' Macrobrachium'' :*'' Macrobrachium ohione'', the Ohio River shrimp :* ...

, fish flakes (and sometimes meat),

shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...

, with minced or grated coconut meat, onions, chilis, lemongrass, garlic, and other spices cooked in coconut milk. It differs primarily in its use of coconut meat. Vegan_Pinangat1

Vegan "Pinangat"

Bicol's vegan "Pinangat" is a Laing twist (pinangat na laing, a Bicol dish).

Pangat

Sometimes referred to as "Pangat" in Ilonggo speaking regions. Often a souring agent such as batuan or kamias or vinegar is added.

References

{{Filipino food Philippine stews Taro dishes Chili pepper dishes Spicy foods Foods containing coconut

Names

Description

Variants

Inulukan

Linapay

Tinumok

Vegan "Pinangat"

Pangat

See also

References