Sinigang is a tamarind-based stew and is one of the most popular dishes in Philippine cuisine. It is said that it originated in Luzon, which may be the reason why I seldom encountered it while I was growing up. In the rare times that I was able to eat Sinigang, I've always loved its thick and sour soup.
Although Sinigang is traditionally tamarind-based, others use guava, kamias, santol, and even green mangoes to give the soup its sour taste. I use tamarind-based powder as an alternative to using real tamarind, as the fruit is hard to come by. I don't always see them being sold in the wet market, and I've never in it in grocery shops.
One can use Chicken, Fish, Shrimp, Beef, and Pork as meat in cooking Sinigang, and the entourage of vegetables that are added can vary. Traditionally, the meat is stewed with tamarind, onions, and tomatoes. When the meat is tender, vegetables like radish, yardlong beans, eggplant, and water spinach are added.
In this post, I will share my version of Sinigang Na Baboy, where I am using Pork. The Filipino word Baboy refers to pig or pork. The vegetables I add to the stew are quite different from what is commonly used. I do not add longyard beans and water spinach as we don't like them in our soup and would rather have them sautéed adobo style. We like our soup thick and so I add Taro and Ochro to the radish and eggplant.
I use 500 grams baby back ribs, and 500 grams pork belly in 1-inch cubes. I place the pork, taro, and onions in a pot with 8 cups water and let it boil in high heat. Once it boils, I add the tomatoes and turn the heat low for slow cooking, turning the ingredients in the pot every now and then to make sure the taro doesn't stick on bottom of the pot and burn.
When the taro has melted into the soup, the meat is usually already tender and that's when I add the tamarind-based seasoning and radish, then turn the heat high again. When the soup boils, I add the rest of the vegetables all at once and quickly cover the pot, then turn off the stove.
It was Red who taught me how to prepare this dish. It was quite intimidating at first because of all the vegetables that's involved but I actually find it easy to prepare now. It does require some time so I usually start preparing this early lest we have dinner at midnight.
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