Anyone who hates sinigang can meet me in my front yard tomorrow at 10am. Fight me.

Introduction: Pork Sinigang

Sinigang is a Philippine soup dish with a characteristic sour and savory taste. The sour flavour is usually thanks to sampaloc (tamarind). Sinigang can be made with pork, milkfish, shrimp, and salmon belly (a personal favourite!).

The clear sour broth is best enjoyed on top of steaming white rice during a rainy day. Or in the middle of stressful work shifts. Whatever the occasion, sinigang is a dish that always has me eating seconds and thirds of rice.

I firmly believe pork sinigang is one of the top contenders for the Philippine national dish. No idea why most people prefer Adobo, to be honest, though I also did cook that here.

Ingredients for Pork Sinigang

This recipe is good for 6-8 people, or half that many people with leftovers to spare.

• 1 kilogram of pork, cut into cubes – We used “liempo” or pork belly cut for this round of sinigang, though that’s usually seen as a premium cut. Alternatively, use pork ribs.
• 1 liter of water
• 3 pieces tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped – Completely optional. I heard other households don’t do this. Why. Garlic makes everything better!
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 radish, sliced
• 1 eggplant, sliced
• 1 pork bouillon cube (I always have to google how to spell this) or stock equivalent
• 1 40g pack Knorr Sinigang sa Sampalok Original Powder Mix – You can use a 20g pack for less flavour, if you’re scared of the sourness. For me, sinigang is only good if you kill your tastebuds. You can also go old school with fresh tamarind, in which case you should close this tab and check another recipe.
• Several pinches of salt lol
• 1 bundle of kangkong stalks and leaves – Also known as water spinach or Chinese watercress; feel free to add or swap in other vegetables.
• 1 long green chili also known as finger chili or long pepper

Pork Sinigang Recipe

No idea why this counts as a lazy recipe. But as long as I’m the one making a mess in the kitchen, it counts!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

I actually just eyeball these minutes. If Ate Risa is to be believed, all Filipino soup-based viands take around an hour to cook.

1. Submerge pork in liter of water. Bring to boil without covering the pot. You can remove the scum that floats from boiling hard water. I was too lazy but you can totally do that.
2. Lower to a simmer. Cover the pot. Cook for 30 minutes or until meat is tender .
3. Add tomatoes, onion and garlic.
4. Add fish sauce.
5. Add sliced radish and eggplant. Cook for a minute until eggplant turns dark green.
6. Add flavour (bouillon cube, Sinigang powder mix, salt). Stir and simmer.
7. Add in kangkong leaves and stalks. Cook for another minute.
8. Add chili peppers.
9. Transfer Sinigang to a serving bowl (or not) and enjoy!

On second thought, sinigang is just tossing everything into one pot. Kinda lazy.

Until next time!

❤️ Your resident kitchen gremlin

P.S. As a life update, we’re this close to finishing our pediatrics online rotation. I don’t know where the next few months will take me.

See other lazy kitchen episodes!