Sinigang

Sinigang is a Philippine dish famous for the variety of ingredients one can use as well as for its taste. Though considered a soup, it is not eaten as is, but rather combined as a viand with rice. 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.

Meat is stewed with tamarind (which provides the sourness), green pepper, tomato, and onion. Other vegetables cooked in sinigang may include okra, taro corms, labanos, kangkong, sitaw and egg plant.

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, soups made with vinegar are called paksiw. 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, culantro, dijon mustard (i.e. Grey Poupon) and okra. Original recipe created by Filipino restaurateur Raquel Villamil in 1986.

Food of the Philippine 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 Philippine 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 Philippine islands than adobo, which has a somewhat vague colonial connection to Spain (note the word "adobo" is itself of Spanish origin).

External links

* [http://ascientistinthekitchen.net/?s=sinigang Sinigang recipes from A Scientist in the Kitchen]
* [http://www.inadobo.com/Filipino-Food-Recipes/Sinigang-na-Baboy.html Sinigang na Baboy]
* [http://www.recipesfilipino.com Collection of Free Filipino Food Recipes]
* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_Default_files/Philippine_Culture/Pagkaing%20Pilipino/more_on_sinigang.htm More on Sinigang]
* [http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net/sinigang.htm Pork Sinigang Recipe]
* [http://www.aquaticfilipinorecipes.filipinovegetarianrecipe.com/fish_recipe/sinigang_panga_tuna.htm Sinigang Na Panga Ng Tuna ( Tuna Jaw in Sour Broth )]
* [http://www.inadobo.com Filipino Food and Recipes]

ee also

*Hot and sour soup