Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Pork Sinigang (Filipino Sour Soup)

©2013ItsAbbyTime ©2013ItsAbbyTime[/caption]

Last Sunday my friend Erika and I got together with the kiddos to have lunch together and go swimming. I offered to make Sinigang and Lumpia to go along with the soup. Erika has never made Sinigang before and wanted to learn. I will talk about the lumpia that she help make in another post. Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory flavor most often associated with tamarind (sampalok). It is one of the popular viands in Philippine cuisine. This dish is one of the very few Filipino dishes I know how to whip up.

I grew up in a Filipino household, but was never completely fond of all the Filipino dishes. Throughout the years I became aware of the very few dishes that I enjoyed. I made sure that I knew how to make it myself. I have also made this dish in a Vegan version. I will post that recipe some other time as well.

This is so delicious with rice. You can cook this soup with shrimp, fish, beef, chicken, or tofu.

[yumprint-recipe id='4']This is so easy to make. The only part of it that becomes time consuming is the boiling of the meat. The reason that I boil it first before cooking it with all the vegetables is to get rid of that odd pork flavor. I want to make sure that all the excess fat that can be boiled off will be removed. You can also add more veggies to this such as daikon, potatoes, spinach if you do not have pechay and so forth. I used what I did because I did not find what I needed to at the grocery store for this recipe.

I used a pack and a half of the tamarind packet because I prefer it to be extremely sour. However, you can control this by putting a little at a time. You do not have to have this soup extremely sour or spicy, but it is preferable that way.

Thanks to my friend Erika for helping me make the soup. I was in the process of giving Sean's sister a haircut and since she wanted to learn I took advantage of that, ha! I was directing her along the way. She seemed to have done perfectly fine. It really is not a difficult dish to make.

©2013ItsAbbyTIme

here is a picture of the kiddies as they were waiting to eat before they went swimming. Of course we waited for a bit before they took a dip. They didn't last very long since they had food coma! ha

15 comments:

  1. summer photos of the kids are my favorite.

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  2. This sounds so interesting! There's an asian grocery store around the corner from me and I will have to check to see if they have some of the ingredients.

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  3. Oh my, I remembered having this soup (Sinigang) for the first time in Manila (I was there last year): http://veganmiam.com/asia/philippines/manila-corner-tree-cafe, it was a pretty interesting vegan soup. Here's my input about their vegan Sinigang (it's actually Sa Miso): This was one of their specials, also a traditional Pinoy dish. It tasted like a sour miso soup with bit of heat, which I found it unusual. There are variety of vegetables in the soup that I could not identify at all, maybe kangkong (also known as water spinach or morning glory) and chilies and others. I like my miso soup normal, but definitely not tart like that. But it was one of the unique Pinoy dishes I’d tried so far.

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  4. I haven't had sinigang in years! Love it when it's extra sour! yum!

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  5. Awe the kiddos are so cute! :)
    I love tamarind so this looks perfect! I'm not sure if I've had a filipino dish before, but this sure looks soooo tasty. Can't wait for the vegetarian version!
    Have a great week! :)

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  6. @linda: I love kids photos especially during the summer. I wish I had more of them out playing.

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  7. Interesting! I can honestly say I have never had Filipino food before, but it looks like I am missing out!

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  8. @Davida @ The Healthy Maven: Just a heads up the broth is very sour. It definitely is an acquired taste. I would suggest getting a tiny bowl and fill it with water and some of the tamarind powder and heat that up and taste it. Making a small sample would be preferable. I know a lot of people don't like this soup cause it is different and interesting. It's way sour and it's almost like the Thai soup Tom Yum

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  9. @rika@veganmiam.com: It is definitely very unique and I believe it is an acquired taste. Not sure if you had Tom Yum (Thai) or Pho (Vietnamese) but those soups are also different. I remember when I first had Pho I was really against it but overtime in small doses I started to enjoy it, haha. It definitely is not for everyone, but I read your post in Manila and I am actually impressed that they had a vegan restaurant that allowed you to try the different dishes.

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  10. @laura: I love the extra sourness! My family like its just right, but I prefer an extra kick, ha!

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  11. @Alex@Veggin' Out: I am sure that there are a ton of dishes that uses Tamarind but I am still find some that do. This is a sour soup and so I believe that it is an acquired taste. It's so yummy though!

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  12. @Joyce: A lot of Filipino dishes are made with tons of innards and I personally am not a big fan of it. However, growing up there were some dishes that I enjoy that I am sure that other people will enjoy as well. For example this soup is so sour and tangy. It is definitely an acquired taste, but as a kid I loved it and I still do. I should post my eggroll recipe soon!

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  13. Yum this looks so delicious! Do you know of a good recipe for Sinigang mix? I'm not sure I'll be able to find the packet you're describing.

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  14. This is my absolute favorite filipino dish besides Kare Kare! The sourer the better! :P I really should learn how to cook filipino dishes though... the only dish i know how to make is Adobo. :(

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