Laswa is a Negrense/Ilonggo vegetable stew which is healthy, inexpensive, and really easy to prepare. Most of the vegetable ingredients for laswa are grown in backyard gardens so they’re free and if you have to buy the ingredients they are affordable so you won’t spend a lot of money to prepare laswa. You also don’t need special cooking skills to prepare laswa, just boil the vegetables and season with salt and voila! You have a healthy dish that is good for age 3 to 103.
There are different variations to a laswa recipe since the ingredients depend on the vegetable in season. Common vegetables are squash, okra, papaya, eggplant, string beans, alugbati, tugabang (saluyot), malunggay, takway, kulitis, winged beans, patola, etc. Some people use shrimp, crabs or guinamos (shrimp paste) to add more flavors to the laswa. It is best to leave the head and shell of shrimps intact so they retain much of their flavor.
I prefer my laswa to have a thick soup so I often use a lot of okra and tugabang. Some people use tomatoes and onions but I don’t since I observed that they tend to reduce the thickness of the soup. I also see to it that there’s a balance between vegetables and fruits.
Here’s a little secret to cooking laswa, old folks say that if you want to cook a really delicious laswa is to use a mix of ingredients in odd numbers like 3, 5, 7. Ingredients in even numbers are said to cancel out their flavors. I don’t know how true this is but it’s always good to learn from the experience of old folks.
Laswa is best served when hot so the vegetables are still tender. It is also best paired with grilled or fried fish. If you have a baby, you can feed her with the laswa soup that has no shrimp and not yet seasoned.
Below is my laswa recipe. Try it or compare it with your own recipe.
Laswa Recipe
Laswa Ingredients
250 g. fresh shrimp, cleaned with head and shell intact
250 g. squash, diced
2 pcs eggplant, cut into wedges
10 pcs okra, cut into wedges
5 pcs string beans, cut into 2 inches
1/2 medium sized patola, sliced
1 bunch saluyot
8-10 cups water
Salt to taste
Laswa Cooking Procedure
- Bring water to a boil
- Add fresh shrimps
- When shrimps turn pinkish, add squash and okra and simmer for 2-5 minutes or until squash is slightly tender
- Add string beans and eggplant and simmer for 2 minutes
- Add patola and simmer for 1 minute
- Season with salt to taste
- Turn off heat and add the saluyot so it won’t get overcooked
- Serve immediately while hot
Total cost if all ingredients are bought is only P130 with P80 for the shrimps and P50 for all the vegetables. This recipe makes 8 servings so just adjust the amount of the ingredients for the number of servings desired. You see, it’s better to have a vegetable garden so you can save and you’re sure your laswa recipe has from organic vegetables.