Sinigang

Ingredients

• Pork ribs800 g
• Tamarind paste4 tbsp
• Onion1
• Tomatoes3
• Daikon — in rounds200 g
• Taro or potato300 g
• Green beans150 g
• Aubergine1
• Kangkong or spinach150 g
• Green chillies2
• Fish sauce3 tbsp
• Water2 l

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Cover the ribs with water, bring to the boil, skim and simmer for an hour with the onion and tomatoes.

   65 min

2. 2

   Crush the softened tomatoes in the pot: they give the broth its body.

   2 min

3. 3

   Add the tamarind paste and fish sauce, then taste. The sourness should be pronounced, not a hint.

   3 min

4. 4

   Add the taro and daikon and cook ten minutes, then the aubergine and beans for five more.

   15 min

5. 5

   Throw in the greens and chillies and take the pot off after thirty seconds. The greens should stay bright.

   2 min

About the dish

Sinigang is built around sourness the way borscht is built around beetroot. Tamarind supplies most of it, but different provinces use guava, green mango or kamias — the flavour changes, the principle does not.

The vegetables go in by cooking time rather than all at once: root vegetables first, then beans, and the kangkong greens at the very end, where thirty seconds is enough.

It is served with rice and a small bowl of fish sauce. The meat is dipped into it; that is part of the dish rather than a condiment on the table.

Worth knowing

• — Add the tamarind gradually and taste. Pastes vary enormously in acidity, and overshooting cannot be undone.
• — Taro thickens the broth on its own by releasing starch. Potato does not, and the soup stays clearer.
• — Prawns or fish can replace the pork, but then the cooking takes fifteen minutes rather than an hour.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

460 kcal

Protein

34 g

Fat

26 g

Carbs

24 g

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