Sinigang na Baboy

the sour soup that many call the Philippine national dish: pork simmered until tender in a clear tamarind broth with radish, aubergine, long beans, okra, and water spinach

Origin: Philippines

From the journey of Tamarind.

Sinigang is the sour soup of the Philippines and, by common consent, one of the strongest claimants to the title of national dish; asked what food they miss most, Filipinos abroad name it more often than any other. Its defining quality is asim, sourness, and the classic souring agent is the tamarind, sampalok, whose bracing, mouth-watering tartness is the whole point of the dish rather than a mere seasoning. The technique is old and pre-colonial: souring a broth with whatever acid fruit was to hand is an indigenous Philippine method that long predates Spanish contact, and green mango, unripe guava, calamansi, and kamias are all used in season, though sampalok is the standard against which the rest are measured. The broth is kept clear and savoury rather than thickened, seasoned with fish sauce, and loaded with vegetables added in careful order so that each is properly cooked: radish and aubergine first, then long beans and okra, and the water spinach last of all so it barely wilts. Sinigang na baboy, the pork version, is the most beloved of all, the richness of the belly and ribs answered by the sharp broth. It is comfort food, rainy-day food, and family food, served with a mound of white rice into which the soup is spooned.

Ingredients

Broth

  • 1 kg pork belly or spare ribs, cut into large chunks
  • 2 litres water
  • 1 whole onion, quartered
  • 3 whole tomatoes, quartered
  • 120 g tamarind pulp, soaked in 400 ml hot water and strained (or 1 sachet sinigang mix)
  • 4 tbsp fish sauce (patis), or to taste

Vegetables

  • 1 whole daikon radish (labanos), sliced into rounds
  • 1 whole aubergine, sliced into thick rounds
  • 150 g long beans (sitaw), cut into lengths
  • 8 whole okra, trimmed
  • 1 bunch water spinach (kangkong) or spinach, leaves and tender stems
  • 2 whole long green chillies (siling haba)

Method

  1. Put the pork in a large pot with the water, onion, and tomatoes, bring to the boil, and skim off the scum that rises. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook, partly covered, for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until the pork is genuinely tender.
  2. Meanwhile, soak the tamarind pulp in hot water for 20 minutes, work it with your fingers, and strain, pressing firmly, discarding the seeds and fibres.
  3. Stir the strained tamarind and the fish sauce into the broth. Taste, and adjust until the soup is definitely, pleasurably sour and well salted; this is the moment that decides the dish.
  4. Add the radish and aubergine and simmer for 5 minutes, then the long beans, okra, and whole green chillies and simmer for 4 minutes more, until everything is just tender.
  5. Turn off the heat, lay the water spinach on top, and cover for 1 to 2 minutes so it wilts in the residual heat. Serve at once in deep bowls with plenty of steamed white rice, and small dishes of fish sauce and chilli for dipping the pork.

Notes

Sinigang is endlessly variable: the same sour broth is made with prawns (hipon), fish (isda), beef (baka), or chicken, and the souring agent changes with the season and the region, from green mango to unripe guava, calamansi, or the sour kamias fruit. The vegetables are equally a matter of what is to hand. Packet sinigang sa sampalok mix is used in the great majority of Filipino homes and gives a consistent, strongly sour result; using fresh tamarind, as here, gives a gentler and more fragrant broth. What must not change is the sourness itself, which should be unmistakable.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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