Sinigang (Tamarind Broth With Pork and Vegetables)

By Angela Dimayuga

Total Time: 2½ hours
Rating: 4(225)
Notes: Read community notes

This is the soup that made me like vegetables when I was growing up. You always measure sinigang by sourness, which is so much a part of our cuisine — layers of acid coming from vinegar, fresh citrus, tamarind and unripe fruits. Here, sour is a power move, hitting you all the way at the back of your tongue. Whole serrano chiles bring a low-frequency spicy hum, adding not so much heat as depth. The daikon should be left in big, juicy chunks, so when you bite into them, you get an unexpected touch of coolness in the hot broth.

Featured in: Angela Dimayuga’s 10 Essential Filipino Recipes

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

2tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola
12whole garlic cloves, crushed
2pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1½-inch pieces, excess fat trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2cups Vietnamese concentrated cooking tamarind (“nuoc me chua”), or 1 (14-ounce) block tamarind paste, liquefied (see Tip)
2medium yellow onions, halved from tip to tip, then each half cubed into 4 quarters
¼cup fish sauce
2whole serrano chiles
1daikon (1¾ pounds), peeled and sliced into 1½-inch chunks
½pound long beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
1Japanese eggplant (about 5 ounces), sliced into 1-inch pieces
2medium tomatoes, halved, then each half cubed into 4 quarters
10ounces baby spinach (about 8 packed cups)
½cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)
Steamed jasmine rice, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add the garlic and cook until toasted, 1 minute. Add the pork, season with 1½ tablespoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the tamarind, onion, fish sauce, serrano chiles and 10 cups water, and bring to a boil over high.
Step 2
Once the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the pork is softened but not fully tender, about 1½ hours.
Step 3
Stir in the daikon, cover and continue to simmer until daikon is tender and the pork is yielding, about 30 minutes.
Step 4
Uncover and discard the chiles. Add the long beans, eggplant, tomatoes and spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
Step 5
Stir in the lemon juice. Serve over rice.

Tip

To liquefy block tamarind, first, break the tamarind block into 1-inch chunks, and put it in a mixing bowl. Add 2½ cups boiling water, push the tamarind into the water, and let soften for 5 minutes. Break the tamarind up with a fork, and let sit another 15 minutes to soften. Mash up the tamarind again, then pour everything through a fine-mesh strainer into another mixing bowl, pressing and mashing the solids in the strainer to extract as much jammy tamarind pulp as possible. (Don’t forget to scrape off the underside of the strainer, where the pulp will collect.) Whisk together the resulting tamarind sauce, then transfer to a measuring cup — you should have about 2 cups. If necessary, add water to make 2 cups.

Ratings

4 out of 5

225 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Filipina without an Asian grocery nearby4 years ago

I never put garlic, but I do use the powdered pack for the tamarind and maybe there's a bit of garlic in there, I never checked. Pork can be replaced with beef or (time-saving) shrimp. Broccoli heads have a yummy tendency to collect the tasty broth. The spinach stands in for various yummy dark greens like the leaves of sweet potatoes, or especially "water spinach" (common SEAsian veggie with no agreed translation). Happy to have learned how to use those tamarind blocks!

HapaChef4 years ago

If you have an asian grocery nearby, substitute the western spinach with the more traditional OnChoy, which is Philippine Kang Kong or Water Spinach

ADP4 years ago

Kangkong? I love that veg! In hindi we call it karmi. Most often I shop at Chinese stores and they call it ong choy

JKevin4 years ago

I've eaten a lot of sinigang, and this was the best ever. I used river spinach, and ended up adding extra tamarind. My Filipino partner said it was as good as grandma's. Now that's a compliment!

Allison4 years ago

This was a hit with the family. I used bok choy and broccolini instead of spinach and beans. I used less salt (about 2/3), twice as much pepper, 3 chilli peppers and 2 cups of veal stock since I had it in the fridge. The tamarind I had was puree and I wasn't sure how that compared to the stuff described above. I took a punt and used about half a 220g jar - the result was nice, a bit like hot and sour soup. The broth depended on the quality of the pork so I'm glad I didn't get supermarket meat.

Mama Haus4 years ago

Use the recipe for whatever is local and seasonal for you...I've even used local lamb ribs from our farmer's market with home-grown bok choy and regional lemons (no tamarind available). Whatever fresh greens are available from your garden or local farmers can always be used in this flexible recipe. Sarap sarap!

tony4 years ago

This soup is also good for fish and shrimp.

Tom4 years ago

Water spinach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipomoea_aquatica

notes1 month ago

Spare ribs, no garlic

Too Sour/Acidic1 year ago

Can't make any claims on what this dish should taste like, but for us the amount of tamarind made it taste like stomach acid. It tasted so much like stomach acid that it reminded me of various bad hangover experiences as if I were reliving them willingly

mkb32 years ago

I wanted to incorporate more tamarind in my life, since I'm a fan of sourness (umami?) in dishes. Sam Sifton recommended I start with this. I was surprised how delicious it was on first try. I only had the pods, so I made the pulp from them, which just takes a little more time. But kinda fun to crack them. Sourness was bracing on first day but mellowed nicely on second day (much deeper taste). I used good pork butt, but can see how shrimp would go very well. Thanks Sam!

Priscilla3 years ago

If you like a sour gose beer, i would imagine you might be more likely to enjoy this soup-- it requires having developed a palate for a certain flavor profile. I made it as written and it tasted a little like vomit. My family cringes at the word tamarind now because it will forever be associated with this soup. Sigh. So many good recipes on NYT recipes, but this one was just a couple of steps in the "too adventurous" zone for our bland American tastes.

cynthia3 years ago

Staple in our home since we learned how to make this from a Filipina friend in Hong Kong. She used tamarind paste, Pork ribs (collagen from bones adds great depth) a very moderate amount of citric acid powder (vs lemon/lime) & okra in addition to other mentioned veggies (special fan of KangKong/OngChoy!) Here in the US I also add a dollop of Low Sodium Chicken Better than bouillon. So, so good!

Mikko3 years ago

Question - I have a 12oz jar of “Aunt Patty’s Tamarind Paste” in my pantry. Is this the same ingredient that is being called for in the recipe? If so, it seems like a whole lot of tamarind paste...

nico3 years ago

Followed the recipe as written. I was born in the Philippines, and have had sinigang many times on returning visits. To me, this tasted pretty authentic. I think this is attributed to using the block tamarind (although it was a pain to strain). Forgot the spinach this time around, but highly recommend using kangkong (water spinach) if you can find it at an asian market near you, it's a delicious green. Found some malunggay at the farmer's market here in Oakland and added that at the end.

Adriane3 years ago

Straining a tamarind block through mesh was interesting. Liquified tamarind next time. Dear gawd! Ain’t nobody got time for that!

pix3 years ago

How does 10 oz of baby spinach equal "8 packed cups"?

lyssa3 years ago

I did a lot of substitution but the most important thing I did was add fresh dried tamarind I got at the local food lion instead of tamarind paste. I took off the hard, cracked skin and threw the soft insides to stew like bay leaves. There was more than enough flavor. (I also used mixed poultry broth too, probably added to flavor)

BethR4 years ago

This pork version of sinigang was terrific (usually make it with fish). I did use a jar of tamarind paste which also had chilies instead of the block, which is easier to keep around without compromising flavor. I subbed in country style pork ribs for the pork shoulder and green beans for the long beans. Even though it’s a soup/stew, it’s not a heavy dish, and a lovely way to use a variety of garden fresh veggies in summer.

Gerry4 years ago

Way too much lemon to my taste. Either cut back considerably or don't use it. Overwhelms the flavor.

Robert4 years ago

Can you use tamarind concentrate paste for this?

Jocelyn4 years ago

Yes, that can be done. I can't find dried raw tamarind here in Kansas so I use concentrate pastes of the same here. That said, the pastes are often swimming in sugar in order to be preserved, so to get the sourness I usually add more vinegar and salt.

Neal4 years ago

Can anyone make suggestions as to how to use an Instant pot for this recip

Jocelyn4 years ago

You can find them on the internet! There is even an Instant Pot group specifically for Filipino cooking on Facebook.

Tony Tan Harrington4 years ago

Yes you can substitute pork with jumbo prawn. And yes patis ( fish sauce with green Serrano chili or Thai chili is the best to use In this recipe . Sweet potato leaves and daikon instead of spinach. I love serving this with rice.

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