Laswa is ready in minutes and loaded with nutrient-rich vegetables you’ll feel good serving the whole family. It’s nutritious, delicious, and makes a great side dish.
I am going on a vacation to the Philippines in a few weeks, and it will be a super special trip. We’ve all gone for a visit here and there over the past years, but this is the first since we left for the U.S. decades ago that my brother and his family, my daughter, and I will be home at the same time.
It’s my mother’s birthday in June, and it will be a wonderful surprise for her to have us all together. I am sure she would love to see this face. #mynephew #littlepaeng
I can’t wait, you guys! I am so excited to see my mother and give her a big, tight hug. Naturally, I also look forward to the obscene amount of good food.
Food blogger’s dream, yeah! The early morning wet market trips. The carinderias with their line of turo-turo dishes. The panaderias with their freshly-baked pandesal. My mother’s backyard alone would be a culinary adventure!
Along with ornamental plants, she has mango, papaya, atis, santol, guava, and other fruit-bearing trees, which I am sure will be heavy with this summer’s bounty. She also has a thriving vegetable plot; a pot of this Laswa would be a matter of picking the produce from her garden. You can’t get any fresher and closer to the earth than that!
What is laswa
Laswa is a boiled vegetable soup that originated in Iloilo. It’s one of the many forms of sinabawang gulay in Filipino cuisine, similar to the dinengdeng of Ilocos, bulanglang in Batangas, and sabaw na utan in the Visayas and Mindanao region.
It’s a simple dish that’s not only nutritious and delicious but also economical and versatile. You can include virtually whatever fresh produce are plentiful in the area or in season. Patola, eggplant, sigarilyas, long beans, tomatoes, banana heart, okra, calabasa, malunggay leaves, alugbati, takway, sigarilyas, and saluyot are just some of the many vegetables you can use.
Laswa is simply seasoned with salt and its rich mix of texture and flavor comes from the medley of fresh ingredients, such as sweetness from the kalabasa, slight viscosity from the okra and saluyot, and umami flavor from the shrimp.
I like the clean taste of the vegetable soup as is, but it’s also common to enhance the flavor with patis, shrimp bouillon or Magic sarap. You can make the dish with other types of protein like fish and salted dried shrimp (kalkag) or completely vegan.
Cooking tips
- Cut the vegetables in uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
- Use head-on shrimp as it delivers more flavor than peeled.
- Add the vegetables according to how long they take to cook. Calabasa and sitaw, which are tougher vegetables, go in first, followed by okra, eggplant, and ampalaya. Patola, which needs less time to soften, goes in last.
How to serve and store
- Serve with steamed rice and fried fish or grilled meat for a hearty and healthy lunch or dinner.
- Allow leftovers to cool completely before transferring them to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, place in a saucepan and simmer over low heat until completely heated.
- The dish doesn’t freeze well as the vegetables turn mushy when frozen and thawed.
More vegetable recipes
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and pounded
- 1/2 pound small head-on shrimp, peeled and pounded
- 1/2 small calabasa, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 bunch sitaw, ends trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths
- 2 medium eggplant, stems trimmed and cut in a bias into 1-inch chunks
- 2 medium ampalaya, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch thick
- 6 pieces okra, ends trimmed and cut in a bias into halves
- 1 large patola, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat, combine water, onions, and garlic. Bring to a boil and cook until softened.
- Add shrimp and calabasa. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until shrimp changes color and squash is half done.
- Add sitaw and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add eggplant, ampalaya, and okra, and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add patola and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until vegetables are tender yet crisp.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Notes
- Cut the vegetables in uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
- Use head-on shrimp as it delivers more flavor than peeled.
- Add the vegetables according to how long they take to cook. Calabasa and sitaw, which are tougher vegetables, go in first, followed by okra, eggplant, and ampalaya. Patola, which needs less time to soften, goes in last.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Elsa Estemera says
I am very much admiring all recipes, katakam-takam
I’m always following you..
Mia says
Wow, Ms. Lalaine I am so excited for you! I know this trip will be memorable and fun for you and your family. Looking forward to learning new recipes from the trip. By the way, “laswa” is very similar to Cebuano “law-uy”…a very healthy vegetable dish. Good luck on your travel and be safe!
Merdinein Baquirin says
Oh this is my comfort food, believe it or not! My mom always prepare me LASWA whenever I’m tired from school or looking like having a problem or sad. Even now that I have a family of my own she always make sure to cook this whenever we visited each other. And this coming Mother’s Day I will try to cook her LASWA for a change (I don’t know how to cook by the way, not even fried egg). Goodluck to me!
Love, love, love your blog!
Lalaine says
Hi Merdinein,
It was only a few weeks ago when I first tried Laswa and I am definitely hooked! We have one thing in common..my comfort food growing up was my mother’s pinakbet. 🙂
Thank you. I visited your blog and enjoyed what I’ve read so far. Wow! You’ve been blogging since 2008! Kudos!
Rosita says
Hi Lalaine, thank you for sharing your recipes. I always like to read the stories that comes with the recipe, Very interesting. The picture of your Laswa wins over other pictures or images of Laswa in comparison. The colors, veggie variety are presented so vividly to the eye.
You are so lucky to go back home to your mom and her garden of veggies and fruit trees. If your mom will ever decide to open a guesthouse in the future, I will be the first one to register, I like to live in that kind of environment even if it is only temporary,
Lalaine says
Hello Rosita
Thank you so much for your feedback. I love to talk and I am suprised I haven’t bored anyone to death yet. 🙂
Yes, her place is so relaxing what with all the trees and plants. I guess that’s the pleasure of living away from major cities, life is more calm and none of the hustle and bustle.
Paz Cross says
Have a wonderful time with your family and friends in the Philippines. I’m sure you will bring back lots of recipes for us to try. Happy birthday and best wishes in advance to your loving Mom.
God bless.
Lalaine says
Hello Paz
Thank you so much. I am so looking forward to all the new food/recipes I will learn to make. Can’t wait to share them all here 🙂
Shirley says
Excellent and healthy recipe. Looking forward to new recipes after you return from your trip to the Philippines. Have a wonderful visit with your family and with warm wishes for your mother’s birthday. Excellent families always have the time to see each other. Take care.
Lalaine says
Thanks, Shirley. We all live hundreds of miles away from each other (my brother and my daughter are both in Northern California) so this trip will be an exciting get together. 🙂
Tsky says
I have enjoyed your blog a lot over time. I hope you &I your family have a gray reunion.
Lalaine says
Thank you so much, Tsky. I am sure we will have grand reunion, I can hardly wait for all the great time to come 🙂