''Laing'' ( ), is a Filipino dish of shredded or whole taro leaves with meat or

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

cooked in thick

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

spiced with labuyo chili, lemongrass,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, shallots,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, and shrimp paste. It originates from the Bicol Region, where it is known simply as ''pinangat''. ''Laing'' is also a type of '' ginataan'' (Filipino dishes cooked in coconut milk), and thus may also be referred to as ''ginataang laing''. ''Laing'' is commonly eaten as a vegetable side to complement meat or fish

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.

Names

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

. ''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 leaves, but rather a whole taro leaf (''natong'' in

Bicolano Bikol or Bicol usually refers to: *Bicol Region, the administrative region in the Philippines Bikol or Bicol may also refer to: Languages and people *Bikol languages, the languages spoken in the Bicol region in the Philippines **Albay Bikol lang ...

). 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), crushed labuyo chili,

, shallots,

, and ''kakang gata'' ( coconut cream). It is wrapped with the leaf and tied with a coconut leaf midrib or twine. It is then steamed in ''gata'' (coconut milk) with a knot of ''

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

'' ( lemongrass) until the leaf pouches are fork tender and the coconut milk is reduced to a thick sauce. For the ''laing'' version served in Manila and elsewhere, it is cooked similarly, but with the leaves shredded. 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'' or used as a stuffing for other dishes. It is also commonly eaten as a side dish to meat. The taro 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 . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydrate ...

crystals ( raphides) 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. It is a specialty of Camalig, Albay. 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 in the Western Visayas. 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, 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.

References

{{Filipino food Philippine stews Taro dishes Chili pepper dishes Spicy foods