Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Filipino
Keyword: Filipino sinigang
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 1538 kcal
Author: Vanjo Merano

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. pork belly (see notes)
• 1 lb. young tamarind (see notes)
• 1 bunch water spinach, chopped
• 8 pieces string beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 pieces eggplants, sliced
• 1 piece daikon radish (see notes)
• 8 pieces okras
• 2 pieces tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• 2 pieces long green pepper
• 1 piece onion, sliced into wedges
• 2 quarts water
• Fish sauce and ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Boil the young tamarind in 2 quarts of water for 40 minutes. Filter the tamarind broth using a kitchen sieve or a strainer. Squeeze the tamarind afterwards to extract its remaining juices.
2. Pour the tamarind broth into a cooking pot. Let it boil and then add the onion, pork belly, and half the amount of the tomatoes.
3. Skim-off the floating scums, pour 1 tablespoon fish sauce, cover and continue to simmer for 1 hour.
4. Add daikon radish and eggplants. Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the long green pepper, string beans, remaining tomatoes, and okra. Cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add the chopped water spinach stalks and season with fish sauce and ground black pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
7. Put the water spinach leaves. Cover and turn the heat off. Let the residual heat cook the leaves for 3 minutes before serving.
8. Share and enjoy!

Notes

• Pork Belly: This is the best cut to use when cooking sinigang, in my opinion. The fat in the belly makes the meat moist which complements well to its tenderness. The other cuts of pork that I use are: pork shoulder, spare ribs, and pork neck bones.
• Young Tamarind: Use only young tamarind if you want your soup to be sour. However, a combination of both young and ripe tamarind can be good too, especially if you like your soup to have a hint of sweetness.
• Daikon Radish: This is an optional ingredient for sinigang.
• Taro (gabi): Adding taro to the dish will make the soup thicker. This is a version of the dish known as sinigang na baboy with gabi.

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