Law-uy is the Visayan name for sinabawang gulay, the Filipino vegetable soup made by simmering leafy greens and firm vegetables in a light broth with onion, garlic and ginger. The version on this page builds that broth around taro, squash, okra, eggplant, patola and saluyot, with fried pork for depth, and it takes about 40 minutes from board to bowl.
The same soup goes by a different name almost everywhere it is cooked — utan bisaya, law-oy, laswa, bulanglang. The names are sorted out below; the card has the quantities and the method.
Recipe
Law-Uy
Ingredients
Method
- First, season the pork generously with some salt and pepper.
- Heat up some oil in a wok and fry the pork until it's a beautiful golden brown color. Once done, set the pork aside and let's move on to the next step.
- In the same wok, sauté some garlic, onion, and ginger to really bring out those flavors. Pour in some water and add taro and lemongrass, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Then, add in some eggplant, squash, and okra, along with the fried pork, and let it all simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Next, add in some patola and let it continue to simmer for 2 more minutes.
- Finally, stir in some saluyot and let it cook for just 1 more minute. Season the dish with some salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and it's ready to serve.
What law-uy is, and what else it is called
Sinabawang gulay is the umbrella term for vegetable soup in Filipino cuisine, and it is cooked across the country under regional names. It is bulanglang na gulay in Batangas; sabaw na utan, law-oy, utan bisaya or utan kamunggay in the Visayas and Mindanao; and laswa in Western Visayas.
Law-uy is the Bisaya term, which places the name in the Visayas and Mindanao — but the soup itself, under one name or another, is cooked throughout the Philippines. Law-uy and laswa are therefore two regional names for the same style of soup rather than two different dishes.
Which vegetables go into law-uy
Almost any combination of leafy greens and firm vegetables, which is rather the point of the dish. Common greens are moringa (malunggay) leaves, mustard greens, pepper leaves and pechay; for body there is okra, calabaza, eggplant, yardlong beans, bitter melon, calabash, chayote, green papaya and taro. The card uses one such combination, and lemongrass and siling haba go into the broth alongside it. The method adds the firm vegetables first and the greens last, so a like-for-like swap slots into the same order.
Step by step, in pictures
The card above carries the quantities and the full method. These six sketches show the shape of the cook, from seasoning the pork through to the finished pot.
Season the pork.- Fry the pork until golden.
- Sauté the aromatics.
- Add water, taro and lemongrass.
- Add eggplant, squash and okra.
- Finish with patola and saluyot.
Common questions about law-uy
What are the ingredients for law-uy?
Three groups: leafy greens, firm vegetables, and the aromatics that flavour the broth. The aromatics are the constant — onion, garlic, ginger and lemongrass — while the greens and the firm vegetables change with the region and with whatever the market had. The card above lists this version in full, with quantities.
Is law-uy the same as laswa?
Yes — they are regional names for the same style of vegetable soup. Laswa is what it is called in Western Visayas, while law-uy is the Bisaya name used more widely across the Visayas and Mindanao.
What is law-uy called in Tagalog?
Sinabawang gulay, the general term for a vegetable soup. In Batangas the same dish is called bulanglang na gulay.
What gives law-uy its flavour?
The aromatics and the broth rather than a stock cube. The method pounds ginger and a stalk of lemongrass into the water, sautés garlic and onion before it, and here fries the pork first. Elsewhere the same job is done with seafood stock or patis.
Can you put fish or shrimp in law-uy?
Yes. Dried fish, shrimp, mussels and clams all turn up in the soup depending on where it is made, and the broth is often built on seafood stock or patis rather than on meat at all.
Do you have to use pork?
No. Sinabawang gulay is widely built on a broth of seafood stock or patis instead. In this card the pork is fried at the start and returned to the pot partway through; the vegetable timings do not depend on it.
Other Filipino vegetable soups and stews
If you want more vegetables on the table, Poqui Poqui is the eggplant one. Ginataang Gulay, Suam na Mais and Ginisang Sayote cover similar ground without it, and Pinakbet and Dinengdeng are the two vegetable stews to know. There are vegan versions of the meat classics too — Vegan Tapa, Vegan Kare Kare, Vegan Arroz Caldo and Vegan Filipino Spaghetti.
