Laing is a spicy dish of taro leaves cooked in coconut milk. Laing comes from the Bicol region of the Philippines.

Laing is typically a very spicy dish. You can adjust the amount of chili to your preference.

Fresh or dried taro leaves will work for making this dish. Uncooked taro leaves contain oxalate crystal which cause an unpleasant sensation like spicy needles in the throat, so they need to be cooked thoroughly. Even if it looks cooked, taro leaf needs to keep cooking until all the oxalate crystals break down.

Laing is similar to some Pacific island dishes like lu’au from Hawaiian cuisine, rourou from Fijian cuisine, and gollai hagun suni from Chamorro cuisine. This may suggest a common origin in the ancient Philippines.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 clove garlic, minced
• 2 shallot, chopped
• 1 thumb ginger, minced
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and smashed (optional)
• 2-4 labuyo chili or bird eye chili, minced
• 2 labuyo chili or bird eye chili, whole (optional)
• 2 oz dried taro leaf or equivalent fresh taro leaf, chopped
• 1 calamansi juice (optional)

Method

• saute garlic, shallot, ginger until lightly browned
• add coconut cream, water, salt, pepper, lemongrass
• add minced chili, taro leaf
• simmer 15-30 minutes without stirring
• stir and simmer 30 minutes or more until somewhat dry
• garnish with whole chili, calamansi juice
• serve