Sinigang is a sour soup from the Philippines made with tamarind fruit, water spinach, taro, green pepper, tomatoes, ginger, and meat. It can also be made with other sour fruits and is typically served with rice.
Sinigang is a sour-tasting soup from the Southeast Asian country of the Philippines. The tart flavor comes from the fruits, or sampalok, of the tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica), found primarily in West and East Africa and South Asia. Sinigang is served hot as a main course and comes in different variations.
Aside from sampalok, the basic ingredients of sinigang are usually water spinach, the cormon of a taro plant, green pepper, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, chopped ginger, chopped fresh green beans or long beans, salt, oil and water. Sampalok should be boiled in water until the shells of the fruits start to crack. Then they are taken out of the pot to cool, the shells are removed and the juice is drained and transferred to the broth. The resulting liquid, which is set aside, is known as a tamarind soup base.
Meanwhile, the onions are fried in vegetable oil in a pan until translucent. Then the tomatoes and ginger are added, with salt and pepper for seasoning. After about 5-10 minutes, the tamarind stock can be introduced. This is brought to a boil and then simmered for about 15 minutes. Finally, the water spinach, taro and green beans are added to the pot. It takes about 30 minutes longer to make sure all the ingredients are soft and tender.
Some meats are added to sinigang and are usually browned together with onions. The most commonly used meat is pork; other types of meat used include fish such as tilapia or milkfish, shrimp, chicken and beef. Sinigang is sometimes classified according to the type of meat used to prepare it. There are some variations of the food, named after other ingredients, such as sinigang miso, which includes the Japanese seasoning made from fermented rice and barley or soybeans.
Though traditionally made from tamarind, some people base sinigang on ingredients such as citrus fruits from the microcarpa citrus tree, raw mango, guava, or cucumbers. These ingredients are chosen based on their ability to produce the acidity of the soup. While this attribute makes it similar to paksiw, another Filipino dish, the latter is based on vinegar instead. Sinigang is classified as a soup, although it is typically eaten with rice.
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