Sinigang

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Sinigang

A pot of tamarind sinigang

Sinigang is a Philippine dish famous for the variety of ingredients one can use as well as for its taste. Sinigang is typically sour and is most often likened to Thailand's tom yam.

Sinigang often incorporates stewed fish, pork, chicken, shrimp, or beef. Sinigang's characteristic taste is attributed to the ingredient that gives its sour taste, not to the meat's flavor.

Pork sinigang, the most common variety, is usually prepared with tamarind (which provides the sourness), tomato, leek, taro and onion. Other vegetables cooked in sinigang may include okra, spinach, radish, green pepper and string beans. The other popular varieties include bangus (Philippine freshwater milkfish) sinigang, as well as prawn sinigang.

Another variety is prepared with guava and is less sour than those with tamarind. Raw mango, calamansi and kamias can also be utilized. However, vinegar is not used for making sinigang sour. Powdered soup base or bouillon cubes for sinigang are also used in place of natural fruits.

Chicken sinigang is called sinampalukan (from sampalok, Filipino for tamarind). Sinampalukan is made with shredded tamarind leaves, ginger, onions, and tomatoes. Sinampalukan is sometimes prepared to be a little spicier than the other sinigang dishes.

Sinigang Villamil is prepared with sampalok, onions, tomatoes, kangkong and okra. Original recipe created by Filipino restauranteur Raquel Villamil in 1986.

[edit] Food of the Pacific Islands

Food historians have often extolled the wonders of sinigang, especially as a refreshing, energising, appetite-encouraging food for the humid tropics. The sour lightness of the soup is a perfect match for the oppressive tropical heat of the Pacific islands. While chicken/pork adobo is seen by most Filipinos as their national dish, sinigang, some historians argue, should be also considered, as it seems to be more indigenous to the Pacific islands than adobo, which has a somewhat vague colonial connection to Spain (note the word adobo is itself of Spanish origin).