Chicken Bicol Express is a delicious Filipino stew recipe made by cooking boneless chicken with coconut milk, coconut cream, green chilli, shrimp paste, garlic, chopped green beans, Siling labuyo(optional), pepper and salt. The creamy, less oily coconut milk sauce give this dish a yummy spicy flavour. You’ll surely be tempted for extra rice!
Chicken Bicol Express
6
servingsA healthier, less oily version of Bicol Express.
Ingredients
600 grams boneless chicken thigh
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup coconut cream
3 to 5 green chilli (chopped)
2 tbsp. shrimp paste
1 medium onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)’
1 cup green beans chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Siling labuyo (optional)
Directions
- Heat oil in a pan for sauteing. Saute’ onion and garlic. Add shrimp paste. Saute’ for a minute.
- Then, add in the boneless chicken thigh (cut into small pieces). Saute’ until the color changes and becomes light brown.
- After sauteing, add the coconut milk. Stir to combine well. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce is reduced. Use medium heat.
- Once the chicken is cooked and the sauce is reduced, turn the heat to low. Add the green beans, green chilies and the coconut cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well-combined. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce becomes thicker. Stir occasionally.
- Once the sauce becomes thickened, remove from heat. Serve with hot rice.
How to Cook Chicken Bicol Express
COCONUT MILK: The most important ingredient in cooking Bicol Express, be it pork or chicken, is the coconut milk. This will be the main sauce for the dish. You can either use coconut milk in can or press freshly grated coconut.
When using fresh coconut, it is better to press it 2 times to get thick and thin coconut milk. In this recipe, I used 2 coconuts. For the first press, I added ½ cup hot water to get the ¾ cup coconut cream. For the second press, I added 1 cup of hot water.
If you are using canned coconut milk, just divide it into 2, then dilute the other one with water. The ratio will be 1:1, 1 part of water and 1 part of pure coconut milk to get the thin coconut milk.
CHICKEN: In this recipe, I used boneless chicken thigh and cut it into serving pieces. Thigh is one of the hard and fatty part of the chicken that’s why I chose it. But you can use breast part as well.
SHRIMP PASTE: Since sauteed shrimp paste are readily available in stores, sold in bottles, I chose it for less hassle. But if you are going to use fresh shrimp paste, be sure to wash it first to reduce the saltiness. Add a little bit of sugar as well when using fresh shrimp paste to balance the saltiness.
CHILIES: Bicol express is notable for being so spicy. When I am cooking bicol express, I want it so spicy but I to make sure that my kids and other family members can also handle the heat. So, most of the time, I only add a few green chilies when cooking then just add more when I am about to eat them.
Bicol Express Recipe
This Bicol express recipe will show you how to cook home made chicken bicol express for your family and guests. This is the best Bicol express recipe and we are sure that if you follow this recipe step by step you will get a awesome chicken bicol express that will tickle your taste buds
