Sinigang Recipes
Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour flavor most often associated with tamarind (sampalok).
Sinigang is traditionally tamarind based. Other versions of the dish derive their sourness from ingredients such as guava, calamansi, bilimbi, or raw mango among others. Powdered soup base or bouillon cubes for sinigang based on tamarind or calamondin are also used in place of natural fruits. Vinegar is not used for making sinigang sour. A similar dish made with vinegar as the primary souring ingredient would tend to be categorized as paksiw in Philippine cuisine.
Meat in sinigang (e.g., fish, pork, shrimp, or beef) is often stewed with tamarinds, tomatoes, and onions. Other vegetables commonly used in the making of sinigang include okra, taro corms (gabi), daikon (labanos), water spinach (kangkong), yardlong beans (sitaw) and eggplant (talong). Most Filipinos like to cook sinigang with green finger pepper in order to enhance the taste while adding a little spice to the dish.
A common variation of chicken sinigang is called sinampalukang manok or sinampalukan (from sampalok, Filipino for tamarind). Sinampalukan is distinguished by its use of shredded tamarind leaves. It is also made with ginger, onions, and tomatoes. Sinampalukan is sometimes prepared to be a little spicier than the other sinigang dishes.
It bears some similarities to Indonesian sayur asem, Vietnamese canh chua, and Thai tom yam. Sinigang shares some characteristics?but should not be confused with?singgang, a tamarind soup dish from Terengganu, Malaysia.
