(Chicago) – Every now and then, I crave for Filipino food. The first thing that usually comes to my mind is sinigang especially when it gets really cold here in Chicago. Sinigang is Philippines version of sour soup. Tamarind is the most popular source of tartness for the soup but to extract its acidic juice from the actual fruit can be very tedious, hence, the evolution of tamarind powdered soup base or sinigang mix.
Obviously, ready-made soup bases including sinigang mix, make cooking easier, faster and even tastier. But still, I have a strong aversion in using them. Pay closer attention to details in the packaging and you will see how much sodium, MSG (monosodium glutamate) and many other chemicals are loaded in there. Be scared! Life is short enough so don’t let your cooking contribute to making it shorter.
In my attempt to make a healthy version of sinigang without deviating too much from the taste I grew up with, I used fresh lemons and limes as an alternative to store-bought sinigang mix. Besides, this mix is not available in mainstream groceries here in Chicago and you will have to drive to a near-by Asian or Filipino store to get it. Why bother? Original version of sinigang uses kangkong (water spinach), which is considered a noxious weed by USDA, hence, it’s not grown here so I just substituted it with regular spinach. Ingredients substitution is never a crime or disrespect to the original recipe, for me at least. I always go for the simplest and easiest to acquire as long as the taste is close to original or sometimes, even better.
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3 lbs pork ribs, cut into serving pieces (Ask the butcher to do it)
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2 medium size tomatoes, chopped
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2 medium size onion, chopped
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Juice of 3 lemons and 2 limes
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ng-left: 30px; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 5;”>8 cups water
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1 bag of washed fresh spinach
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1 medium size eggplant
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15 pieces okra
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2 fresh green finger pepper, whole
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1 tablespoon cooking oil
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1 tablespoon fish sauce (patis)
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Salt and pepper
- To clean the pork by removing scum and reduce a little fat oil, put the pork in a pot with water, just enough to cover the meat, and bring to a quick boil on high heat. Leave it boiling for 5 mins, then drain. Rinse your meat in running water to clean it thoroughly.
- In the same pot, sauté garlic, onion and tomato for 2 mins
- Add cleaned pork, season with salt and pepper and cook till brown.
- Add water and lemon/lime juice. Make sure no seeds get into the pot unless you want a bitter broth
- Bring to a boil and cook until pork is tender, when the meat is starting to peel off from the bone.
- Add eggplant, okra and fish sauce. Cook for 4 mins.
- Add spinach and whole finger peppers. Cook for another 4 mins
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