Sinigang

5 from 3 votes

Filipino sour soup with pork and vegetables

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Filipino

Keyword: filipino sinigang

Servings: people

Calories: 1538kcal

Author: Vanjo Merano

Boil the young tamarind in 2 quarts of water for 40 minutes. Filter the tamarind broth using a kitchen sieve or a strainer. Squeeze the tamarind afterwards to extract its remaining juices.
1 lb. young tamarind, 2 quarts water
Pour the tamarind broth into a cooking pot. Let it boil and then add the onion, pork belly, and half the amount of the tomatoes.
2 lbs. pork belly, 1 piece onion, 2 pieces tomatoes
Skim-off the floating scums, pour 1 tablespoon fish sauce, cover and continue to simmer for 1 hour.
Fish sauce and ground black pepper
Add daikon radish and eggplants. Cook for 5 minutes.
1 piece daikon radish, 2 pieces eggplants
Add the long green pepper, string beans, remaining tomatoes, and okra. Cook for 3 minutes.
8 pieces string beans, 2 pieces tomatoes, 2 pieces long green pepper, 8 pieces okras
Add the chopped water spinach stalks and season with fish sauce and ground black pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
Fish sauce and ground black pepper
Put the water spinach leaves. Cover and turn the heat off. Let the residual heat cook the leaves for 3 minutes before serving.
1 bunch water spinach
Share and enjoy!

Pork Belly - This is the best cut to use when cooking sinigang, in my opinion. The fat in the belly makes the meat moist which complements well to its tenderness. The other cuts of pork that I use are: pork shoulder, spare ribs, and pork neck bones.
Young Tamarind - Use only young tamarind if you want your soup to be sour. However, a combination of both young and ripe tamarind can be good too, especially if you like your soup to have a hint of sweetness.
Daikon Radish - This is an optional ingredient for sinigang.
Taro (gabi) - Adding taro to the dish will make the soup thicker. This is a version of the dish known as sinigang na baboy with gabi.