Food historians like the late Doreen Hernandez have often extolled and exalted the wonders of the divine sinigang, especially as a refreshing, energising, appetite-inspiring food for the humid tropics. The sour lightness of the soup is a perfect match for the oppressive, scorching and tropical heat of the Philippine islands. While chicken/pork adobo aka CPA is seen by most Filipinos as their national dish, sinigang, some historians argue, and if may be allowed like me, 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. Please take note that the etymology of the word "adobo" is itself of Spanish origin.
"Sinigang" is a Philippine soup. Cousin to her neighbour Indonesian sayur asam, Vietnamese canh chua, Thailand's tom yam and also sounds very similar to "singgang", a tamarind soup dish from Teregganu, Malaysia. its main characteristic flavour comes from tamarind which gives it a sour taste and defines, enhances and overwhelms the taste of its meat.
Sinigang can be fish, pork, shrimp, or beef which is stewed with tamarind, green pepper or, tomato, and onion. Other vegetables cooked in sinigang include okra, taro, radish or labanos, wamp cabbage or kangkong, string beans or sitaw and eggplant or talong. Other fruits are also used as souring agents in some parts of the Philippines especially in the Tagalog regions. Some varieties are prepared with guava, santol or raw mango and is less sour than those with tamarind. Calamansi(Calamondin, acid orange or Panama orange) and bilimbi which is to the French it is carambolier bilimbi or cornichon des Indes. Filipinos generally call it kamias but there are about a dozen other native names. However, vinegar is never used for making sinigang sour, soups made with vinegar are called paksiw which is another Philippine dish.Sometimes powdered soup base or bouillon cubes like Knorr for sinigang are also used especially in the city in place of natural fruits. In my own case, I prefer the old traditional way which is the tamarind fruit will be boiled and pressed in a bowl seperately to extract the juice. I also prefer the chinese swamp cabbage which has thinner and longer leaves.
Chicken sinigang has its own name 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 another sinigang variant 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.
Another variant of the sinigang is the sinigang sa miso. Miso is a paste made by fermenting rice, barley or soybeans with salt and a mold. In Philippine cuisine, it is used for the fish sinigang accompanied with the mustasa or use as a dipping sauce that accompanies pesa, another Filipino dish. The mustasa or mustard leaves are also used in this dish.
There are many varieties of miso but in the local markets, you will usually find only two kinds. One is off-white, the kind used for the pesa sauce. The other is yellow used for sinigang.
I am an advocate of slow cooking. Some may not agree and further considered it as jerky cooking. But I may say that cooking in itself is an art and passion. The preparation alone calls for good vibration and one should be in good mood and hygiene.
Beef should be prime cut from Monterey's. And it should be boiled in low heat for an hour or lesser. My own signature procedure is that I saute the julienned red onions ans tomatoes. Vegetables should be well washed and prepared.
