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Sinigang
Sinigang is a sour soup native to the
Philippines. This recipe uses pork as the
main ingredient. Other proteins and seafood
can also be used. Beef, shrimp, fish are
commonly used to cook sinigang. The
chicken version, on the other hand, is called
sinampalukang manok. I prefer to use either
pork belly or buto-buto when…
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by: vanjo merano 6 comments

updated: 2/5/24

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Sinigang is a sour soup native to the

Philippines. This recipe uses pork as the
main ingredient. Other proteins and seafood
can also be used. Beef, shrimp, fish are
commonly used to cook sinigang. The
chicken version, on the other hand, is called
sinampalukang manok. I prefer to use either
pork belly or buto-buto when cooking
sinigang. The latter refers to cuts with bones
intact. These are either pork neck bones,
chopped spare ribs, and chopped baby back
ribs. Pork shoulder and ham can also be
used when cooking sinigang.

I grew-up eating pork sinigang at least once

a week with a saucer of fish sauce and
crushed siling labuyo on the side as my
dipping sauce. During rainy days, I enjoy my
sinigang meal with rice and a few pieces of
fried tuyo. These are small fish that were
salted and dried under the sun. It is a good
combination as far as I am concerned.

Souring Agents for

Sinigang
The quality of this dish depends on the
souring agent. This is the ingredient that
makes the soup sour. The most common and
widely used is unripe tamarind. It is known as
sampaloc in the Philippines. Other fruits such
as guava, tomato, bilimbi or kamias, green
mango, pineapple, and wild mangosteen or
santol can be used to make the sinigang
taste sour.

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Of the many soups and stews that proliferate

Filipino cuisine, it can be sure that sinigang
has no rival. Many meals, both in childhood
and adulthood, have been spent sitting in
front of the familiarly flavorful broth. Its
inviting aroma belies a flavor unlike no other
— tart, savory, and refreshing, one can’t help
but fall in love with it! With many heralding it
as the national Filipino food, it comes as no
surprise that its reputation has spread far
and wide across the world.

Indeed, in 2021, travel guide TasteAtlas

proclaimed our humble dish to be the best
vegetable soup in the world! This should
come as no surprise to us, either. After all,
who can resist the warmth and comfort that
a bowl of sinigang brings? Although a staple
so common in every household, knowing
that sinigang will be the main course of the
day can’t help but elicit feelings of
excitement and delight. No matter the
weather nor the season, sinigang stands
both the test of time and climate. This dish
brings pleasure wherever it finds a home,
and Filipinos continue to relish in its sour, but
yummy taste.

Where does sinigang come

from?

A mix of tender meat, fresh spinach, string

beans, and tomatoes, as well as a dash (or
more) of savory fish sauce, make for the
perfect combination in simmering and
incorporating each unique flavor with each
other. Powerful and poignant, sinigang is a
Filipino native, through and through. Its
name, sinigang, originates from the Tagalog
verb that directly translates to “to stew” —
sigang! Because of its Tagalog name, many
presume it to be Tagalog in origin as well.
This yummy meal has relatives in other
regions in the country as well, to be sure —
yet none are quite like this classic soup that
many have fallen in love with.

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Again, sinigang isn’t a dish so much as it is a

cooking method. This is why, like we
mentioned earlier, there are a wide number
of variations of this delicious dish! These
include your sinigang na hipon, a favorite
seafood variant. Here, tender and fresh
shrimp soak up all the vibrant flavors of your
beloved stew. It’s important to keep your
shrimp perfectly cooked, so it’s much easier
to peel the skin off later on.

And for something a little more out of the

box? Try this sinigang mix inasal na manok!
Now, these are two dishes you wouldn’t
commonly associate with each other. But the
thrilling flavors of a sinigang broth, coupled
with the smoky taste of inasal, makes this a
winning combination. This twist on another
Filipino favorite breathes life into your
everyday inasal recipe. Sample it for
yourself!

Which sinigang variant is your favorite?

How to Cook Sinigang

Pork Sinigang is delicious and easy to
prepare. Note that this recipe will require to
saute the onion and pork. Start by heating
cooking oil in a cooking pot. Saute the onion
until it gets soft. Add the sliced pork. We are
using pork belly (or liempo) for this recipe.
You may also use other pork slices such as
shoulders or parts with bones. Add some
fish sauce and continue to cook until the
pork turns light brown.

It is time to add the liquid. This recipe calls

for water. You may want to use half water
and half beef broth if you prefer your
sinigang to be really flavorful. Let the liquid
boil and then add the tomato and taro (gabi).
The tomato needs to blend in with the broth
while the taro will need to cook for a longer
time so that it will start to release starch that
will make the soup thicker.

The souring agent for this recipe is a

tamarind soup base mix, which is more
popularly known as sinigang mix. This is a
quicker alternative to fresh tamarind and it
will save you time. Add the mix once meat is
tender. Add some long green chili, if desired.
This will make your soup spicy good. Add
the rest of the vegetables towards the last
few minutes. Make sure to add the spinach
last.

This is best served with a condiment

composed of fish sauce and lots of hot chili
pepper.

Sinigang Alternative
Ingredients
This sinigang version makes use of pork
belly. Any cuts of pork can be used to make
it. Beef and fish can also be utilized.

I am using spinach in this recipe. It is actually

an alternative ingredient to kangkong (water
spinach), which is the most common type of
leafy green vegetable used when cooking
sinigang.

Sinigang mix is a powdered product that

helps bring-in that good sour taste to
sinigang. Old school methods requires
boiling either fresh young tamarind or bilimbi
for a long time until the flavors are extracted.
It is your choice. It is a no-brainer, so I chose
flavor and convenience.

Tips in Cooking Pork

Sinigang
Make sure to cook the pork until very tender.
I really mean it. You don’t want to challenge
yourself by chewing the meat with all your
might while the nice hot broth slowly cools
down. Otherwise, enjoy the broth first before
working on the meat.

Onion and tomato brings-in flavor to the

broth. Cook it during the initial steps. Some
people like their tomato intact. If you are one
of these people, I suggest to cook half of the
tomato initially and add the remaining once
the dish is almost done.

You can still make sinigang even without all

the vegetable in the list. All you need is pork,
green leafy veggies, and the souring agent.
Of course, water is essential for this recipe.

Busy people can use a slow cooker to cook

sinigang. Make sure to add the spinach or
kangkong only when you are about to eat. It
is best to have these fresh.

Is sinigang really the

national dish of the
Philippines?
Though many make jokes and proclamations
to the same effect, the truth of the matter is
that sinigang is only the Philippine’s national
dish unofficially. Regardless, some dishes
may also rise to the challenge of national
dish, and have separate camps of their own!
Let’s take a look at some of them now.

For starters, of course, you have sinigang’s

topmost competition: adobo! Point blank,
adobo is perhaps sinigang’s antithesis:
where the latter is sour and tart and soupy,
adobo is a salty, savory and saucy dish. The
only thing they have in common is their use
of juicy and tender pork belly as the main
protein. Like sinigang, the term adobo refers
to a general cooking method, and not
necessarily one particular meal. To adobo
something means to marinate it in a
combination of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic,
and peppercorn. These flavors intermingle
so perfectly, you wouldn’t be able to tell one
from the other. The result is, to be sure, a
dish that is so umami you’d want to drizzle
the sauce over your entire plate of rice!

Other popular Filipino dishes

An additional Filipino favorite would be the
tasty lechon! Celebrations across the
country just wouldn’t be a celebration
without the presence of a gorgeously golden
brown pig to complete it. Flavorful beyond
compare, the charm of lechon lies in a crispy
exterior that makes way for meat that is
succulent and melt-in-your-mouth tasty.
Like its previous competitors adobo and
sinigang, lechon makes use of the meaty pig
as the star of the show. And with lechon,
there are just so many different ways you
can further your enjoyment of this favored
party guest! One such example would be this
crispy lechon belly. With delicious
lemongrass and scallions, as well as star
anise and onion for flavor, this meal spares
no expense for tenderness, while also being
extremely flavorful. If you’re looking for
something that isn’t soupy sinigang, this may
be your next best bet!

Sinigang, adobo, and lechon — all different

meals, all different methods of preparing the
juicy and immaculate pork belly. But which
one of these three dishes would you herald
as good enough to represent the country? Or
does your favorite, perhaps, go above and
beyond? Let us know in the comments
below!

Try this Filipino Pork Sinigang Recipe. Let me

know what you think. We can share ideas
and let our opinions be heard by posting a
comment.

Did you make this? If you snap a photo,

please be sure tag us on Instagram at
@panlasangpinoy or hashtag
#panlasangpinoy so we can see your
creations!

5 from 3 votes

Pork Sinigang Recipe

Pork soup in sour broth with okra, kangkong,
eggplant, and string beans. This dish is best
during the cold weather.
Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients
2 lbs pork belly or buto-buto
 1 bunch spinach or kang-kong
3 tablespoons fish sauce
12 pieces string beans sitaw, cut in 2 inch
length
2 pieces tomato quartered
3 pieces chili or banana pepper
1 tablespoons cooking oil
2 quarts water
1 piece onion sliced
2 pieces taro gabi, quartered
1 pack sinigang mix good for 2 liters water

US Customary Metric

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Instructions
1 Heat the pot and put-in the cooking oil
2 Sauté the onion until its layers separate from
each other
3 Add the pork belly and cook until outer part
turns light brown
4 Put-in the fish sauce and mix with the
ingredients
5 Pour the water and bring to a boil

6 Add the taro and tomatoes then simmer for

40 minutes or until pork is tender
7 Put-in the sinigang mix and chili
8 Add the string beans (and other vegetables
if there are any) and simmer for 5 to 8
minutes
9 Put-in the spinach, turn off the heat, and
cover the pot. Let the spinach cook using the
remaining heat in the pot.
10 Serve hot. Share and enjoy!

Notes

• This recipe can also be used for beef,

chicken, and fish.

• Souring agents also include tamarind,

bilimbi, unripe mango, and calamansi. I used
“sinigang mix” for this recipe for
convenience. It also gives the exact amount
of sourness that I like for my sinigang.

• Taro is nice to have. It will give your soup a

thicker texture. However, you can still make
this dish without it.

• Sliced daikon radish are used in some

version. Feel free to add some if preferred.

• I used spinach for this recipe. A more

traditional approach is the use of water
spinach (kangkong).

• If spinach or water spinach are not

available, you can use bok choy.

Video

Nutrition Facts
Pork Sinigang Recipe
Serving Size 6g
Amount per Serving
Calories 892
% Daily Value*
Fat 83g 128%
Saturated Fat 29g 145%
Cholesterol 108mg 36%
Sodium 1067mg 44%
Potassium 1070mg 31%
Carbohydrates 18g 6%
Fiber 6g 24%
Sugar 8g 9%
Protein 20g 40%

Vitamin A 6710IU 134%

Vitamin C 42.8mg 52%
Calcium 157mg 16%
Iron 4.5mg 25%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000
calorie diet.

© Copyright: Vanjo Merano

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Vanjo Merano
Vanjo Merano is the creator of
PanlasangPinoy.com. His goal is to
introduce Filipino Food and Filipino
Cuisine to the rest of the world. This blog
was the first step that he took.
Read more...

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Ed In DE
posted on 4/24/21 at 11:35 am
This is my comfort food! It is a great easy
base recipe and you can add your own
special tastes. I always use my Instant Pot
for this recipe so that I don’t have to babysit
the stove. You can do the onions and
browning using the sauté mode. Then set to
the “meat” setting and pressure cook. Once
it’s finished, add your sinigang mix, beans
and spinach (I also add baby bok choy and
eggplant). Afterwards, I put the lid back on
the IP and let the veggies cook using the
natural heat (the liquid is extremely hot so
you don’t need to turn on the pressure
cooker again. It’s so hot that it will develop
pressure naturally). Let it sit for a while
(maybe 15 minutes). The vegetables will be
cooked but not soft and soggy. I wind up
adding more fish sauce because that is my
preference. Masarap!
REPLY

Vanjo Merano
posted on 4/24/21 at 7:24 pm
Ed, this is truly delicious. I
appreciate you sharing how
you cook it using Instant Pot.
Cheers!
REPLY

Jeff Traylor
posted on 10/27/20 at 9:17 pm
Thanks for making this sinigang recipe as
simple as possible. I was able to make it at
home and it was delicious!
REPLY

Erikka
posted on 6/28/20 at 6:52 pm
Perfect! I’m half-Filipina, half-American and
this was my first time making sinigang. So
yummy!
REPLY

Tat
posted on 1/5/20 at 7:31 am
Thank you for this recipe! It was easy to
make. I used my instant pot to cook it, set it
to pressure cook (high) for 40mins and the
meat came out tender! Thank you again!
REPLY

Nida Nido
posted on 11/26/18 at 3:57 pm
can i use lemon instead of other condiments,
if so, how many cups of lemon do i add &
when do i add it?
REPLY

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