Erwan Heussaff on Ilonggo dish laswa (inset): “Very simple, very tasty.” Photo of laswa courtesy of PinoyRecipe.net
PHOTO/S: @erwan on Instagram; PinoyRecipe.Net (laswa0

Laswa, an Ilonggo dish, is actually Erwan Heussaff’s favorite.

A fan of farm-to-table recipes, the famous chef said it’s very healthy yet it’s so easy to prepare.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LASWA

This boiled vegetable soup, known as sinabawang gulay, is often compared to the Batangueño dish Bulanglang.

Laswa’s soup base can either be a clear broth or coconut milk, whereas Bulanglang uses rice washing (hugas bigas) and bagoong.

Food sites, such as PinoyRecipe.net, have also noted its similarity to Dinengdeng, an Ilocano boiled vegetable soup often paired with fried fish.

LASWA INGREDIENTS

The dish is medley of fresh vegetables, such as chayote squash, okra, patola, eggplant, saluyot, and string beans.

Here’s Yummy.ph 30-minute recipe (published as is):

1 Cup squash (kalabasa) sliced
1 Cup patola sliced
1/2 Cup okra sliced
1 Cup eggplant sliced
1/3 Cup string beans (sitaw)
1 bundle saluyot
1 piece red onion quartered
1 piece tomatoes quartered
4 cloves Garlic crushed
1 tablespoon fish sauce (patis) divided
100 Grams Shrimp trimmed and cleaned, head-on, shell-on
1/2 Cup water
Salt to taste

Photo/s: Yummy.ph

LASWA COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Here are the two easy steps (published as is):

Prepare a small pot and layer the vegetables in this order: squash at the bottom, then patola, okra, eggplant, sitaw, half of the fish sauce, saluyot, onions, tomatoes, garlic, shrimp, and the rest of the fish sauce.

Gently pour water into the pot, along the sides of the pan. Place the pot over medium heat, covered. Once it boils, lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked to desired doneness. Season to taste. Serve warm.

WHY ERWAN HEUSSAFF LIKES LASWA

Erwan emphasized his love for cooking vegetables sourced straight from his backyard.

At Manulife’s Thought Leadership Event: In Wellness and In Health held on November 5, 2024, at Shangri-La Makati, he shared with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal):

“I just like, you know, I spent a lot of time in the Mountain Province, in Kalinga, Ifugao, in the Ilocos region. And obviously, it’s a huge farming region, and they have a lot of vegetables.”

He described how locals prepare their produce:
“A lot of those vegetables, whether they’re beans or leaves like saluyot or camote tops, are usually just boiled in water with fish bagoong or a few aromatics.”

Erwan had high praise for Laswa, saying, “Very simple, very tasty.”

He elaborated further: “It just comes down to being a very hefty, healthy bowl of vegetables cooked from the region and made really simply. These are things that are eaten every day, and they’re actually really healthy. That’s why I like those kinds of food—things that aren’t necessarily fried but just boiled vegetables.”