Sinigang Na Baboy

Now I’d like to tell you that my Mom used fresh tamarind or fresh kamias but that was years ago when we didn’t have packaged sinigang mix. Lucky you guys these companies have made it much, much easier for us all. Otherwise you would go hit or miss with the sourness of the tamarind. For there were times when a kilo of tamarind was not enough to make a kilo of pork and 8 cups of water sour enough and worse it made the soup bitter. So this will make this recipe simple but anyway for the new cooks this will still come in handy…

SINIGANG NA BABOY

Ingredients:

½ kilo of pork
1 pack of sinigang mix
4-5 cups of water
1 medium size onion, sliced (optional)
2 tomatoes, sliced and seeded (optional)
1 eggplant, sliced
1 small radish, sliced
2 pcs gabi
1 bunch of kangkong (morning glory)

Note: I didn’t indicate which part of the pork to use because I prefer the buntot (tail part) or the pork ribs. Both are tastier because of the bones hence my tendency to use these. However, for the more heart healthy conscious ones amongst you, you can of course use pork loin. Also please seed your tomatoes if you’re putting these in as the seeds are said not to be kind to the appendix. No harm in heeding the warning. But keep the juice of the seeds and add to the sinigang.

Procedure:

1. Dissolve the sinigang mix you’re using in the 5 cups of water. If you like you can put the onion, tomatoes and the pork together. Otherwise, you can omit the onion and tomatoes. Most people would rather just use the sinigang mix as it is complete. But some, like me, want to have that authentic feel hence the onion and tomatoes.

2. When boiling, lower the heat and continue cooking for about 15 minutes. Add the gabi and the radish and cook for another 5 minutes. As with the adobo, check your pork for doneness. If you can already prick it with a fork, add the eggplant. When cooked, after about 3-5 minutes, covered, add the kangkong, turn off the heat and serve hot.

3. Just as an aside, the eggplant will not cook properly if you keep on opening your pot, so when cooking the eggplant, let it be for about 5 minutes.
4. The sinigang is best served with fish sauce but some, like me serve it with fish sauce and some calamansi.