ESL Blogs

Before I start this cooking lesson, let me unravel some of its brief delicious history and how Filipino embraced this food as one of the best food in our dining and extremely enjoyable during the rainy season. Sinigang pertains to a Filipino soup or stew and explicitly renowned by its sour and flavorful tang, often associated with fruits which are sour, to name a few but not limited to, tamarind (the prime), unripe mango, calamansi (Philippine Lemon) and guava. Sinigang often assumed to be the national food of the Philippines because it is very common and for how long it has been around the country. Each region has its own style of cooking Sinigang. But today, I will just show how I prepare this personal favorite.
You will need a medium sized pot, good for 2-3 liters of water, depends on how many soup you want. The ingredients are 1 ½ lbs shrimp or prawns (if you are doing it for the first time, I recommended that you use shrimps or prawns with shell head, this will add some flavoring), 1 bunch of water spinach (just separate the leaves), 1 cup of string beans (cut it, same as the length of your finger), 2-3 pcs of medium-sized tomatoes (it must be red, and quartered cut), 1 large white onion (quartered), 8-10 cups of water (like what I’ve said, the amount of water depends on you), 1 pack sinigang mix (I’m using mix because it is very rare to see fresh tamarind in my place now, I preferred to use “Mamasitas sinigang mix”, the spicy one), 4 pcs banana pepper or long green pepper, 3 tbsp of fish sauce (sometimes, if I’m not satisfied with the taste I adjust in this ingredient).
Materials are prepared, cooking properly now, pour water in your pot with the onion and tomatoes, let it be boil until the tomatoes are crushed and blends well to the water, add the Sinigang mix, after two minutes (for sure it is boiling), add the pepper (count 1-20) then add your string beans (count 1-40), then add the shrimps or prawns and the fish sauce (count 1-10 while lightly stir then taste, if your desired salt or sour taste didn’t meet yet, add sinigang mix or fish sauce again, just simmer for 5 minutes). Then turn off the fire, open your pot and add the water spinach then close again the pot.
This is a very easy dish; some people can add optional vegetables with this like bok choy, cabbage, eggplant, radish or okra. But I like it plain because I'm focused to my favorite shrimps.
Guys, I’m really hoping that will try this one and let your taste buds familiarize foreign cuisine. This is a comforting food for your chilly seasons and we use this food to bond with our families in the Philippines.
Hope you like it and enjoy.