Sinigang na Bayabas

pork or fish simmered with vegetables in a broth soured and perfumed by ripe guavas mashed into the pot, the mellow, fruity version of the Philippines' great sour soup

Origin: Philippines

From the journey of Guava.

Sinigang is the great sour soup of the Philippines, a savoury broth made bracingly tart with a souring agent and filled with meat or fish and vegetables, and it is one of the most beloved of all Filipino dishes. The souring is usually tamarind, but the most fragrant and gentle version of all uses guava: sinigang na bayabas, in which ripe guavas are simmered until soft and then mashed into the broth, lending it a mellow, rounded, faintly sweet fruity sourness quite unlike the sharp bite of tamarind. Pork (or, beautifully, a fish such as milkfish or snapper) is simmered in this guava-soured broth with onion and tomato and a generous tumble of vegetables: water spinach (kangkong), white radish (labanos), long beans, and finger chillies. The guava both sours and perfumes the soup, its scent rising from the pot, and the soft cooked fruit is eaten along with the rest. Served hot with a mound of rice and a saucer of fish sauce for dipping, sinigang na bayabas shows the guava in its savoury Filipino guise, not a sweet at all but the fragrant sour heart of a soup.

Ingredients

The Soup

700 g pork belly or ribs (or 700g fish such as milkfish or snapper)
1 onion, quartered
2 tomatoes, quartered
1.5 litres water
2 tbsp fish sauce (patis), plus more to serve

The Souring

6 ripe guavas, halved

The Vegetables

1 white radish (labanos), sliced
100 g long beans (sitaw), cut into lengths
1 bunch water spinach (kangkong), or spinach, cut into lengths
2 long green finger chillies (siling haba)

Method

If using pork, simmer it in the water with the onion for about 40 minutes, skimming, until tender. (For fish, make the guava broth first and add the fish near the end.)
Meanwhile, simmer the halved guavas in a little water in a separate pan until very soft, then mash and press them through a sieve, reserving the fragrant pulp-juice and discarding the hard seeds.
Stir the sieved guava into the pork broth with the tomatoes and fish sauce, and simmer for 10 minutes so the soup takes on the guava's sourness and perfume.
Add the radish and long beans and cook for 5 minutes, then the water spinach and whole chillies, and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes until just tender.
Taste and adjust with fish sauce, and serve very hot, with steamed rice and a saucer of fish sauce (with a squeeze of calamansi) for dipping.

Notes

Guava (bayabas) makes the mildest, most fragrant sinigang; the more usual souring agents are tamarind (sampalok), kamias, or calamansi. Milkfish (bangus) is the classic fish version. The vegetables vary with the market: gabi (taro) to thicken, okra, and aubergine are all common additions. Serve with plenty of rice.

The Gastrographer

Name: Sinigang na Bayabas
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Philippines
Ingredients: 700 g pork belly or ribs (or 700g fish such as milkfish or snapper); 6 ripe guavas, halved; 1 onion, quartered; 2 tomatoes, quartered; 1.5 litres water; 2 tbsp fish sauce (patis), plus more to serve; 1 white radish (labanos), sliced; 100 g long beans (sitaw), cut into lengths; 1 bunch water spinach (kangkong), or spinach, cut into lengths; 2 long green finger chillies (siling haba)

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control