The secret to the perfect sinigang

Sinigang is the traditional and staple dish in the Philippines - how do you perfect such a difficult dish to make?

As the cool and crisp breeze drifts upon us in the change of season from Summer to Fall, comes also the change from cocktails-on-the-rocks and halo-halo to pumpkin spice lattes and soups. And what better way to celebrate and savor soup season than with the perfect sour taste of sinigang.

When I interviewed Rachel Lucero for one of my Creator Highlights, I asked her what she thinks is the Filipino food that best represents what it means to be Filipino. She responded with sinigang, because it’s one of the only Filipino dish that is closest to its traditional roots in comparison to other dishes that have been influenced by other cultures. It is a beloved stew presumed to be the national dish of the Philippines with known indigenous origins that trace back further than the Spanish colonial rule.

One of the reasons why I love sinigang and why it’s my favorite Filipino food is because of its versatility. It can be served and enjoyed in numerous occasions like birthday parties, baptisms, and weddings, and can be eaten in any season of the year. There are many variations of sinigang, depending on the region, composing of different proteins such as beef, pork, and fish.

The ingredients

The ingredients of sinigang is very simple, yet it’s so hard to get it right most of the time. Whenever I make sinigang (or more like attempt to make it), I always struggle to remember to add in one key ingredient, such as the beans, ginger, the spinach or the tamarind spice. Overtime, with the help of the Sinigang sa Sampalok spice mixes that my parents sent me from their tindahan, I perfected my skills in cooking the dish. But it will never be near perfect as the way my mother does it.

There are so many variations of sinigang that you can’t just list one variation. However, to provide a basic concept of the dish it is a sour-tasting stew with boiled vegetables and protein. I’m not entirely sure which variation is the most popular one, but I grew up eating sinigang na baka, which is with beef cutlets, and sinigang with salmon pieces. There is also sinigang na tilapia, sinigang na baboy, and sinigang na gulay. This is the full list of variations.

I remember the first time I made sinigang, I was confident I knew how to make it because I used to watch and sometimes helped my mother cook. I added potatoes, green beans, spinach, and the beef - some of the basic ingredients I enjoy eating - but forgot the ingredients that gave the dish its signature tamis (sour) taste which was the tamarind spice. I spoke with my aunt and grandmother from Jersey asking them why it doesn’t taste right: my aunt said I didn’t add tomatoes and my grandmother said I should’ve added ginger.

In the same way that there’s no one definition of your identity, there’s no one way to make sinigang perfectly or authentically and this applies to all Filipino dishes. Each food and the way we prepare it will always be different according to our very own cultures, upbringings, surroundings and people. When my sister turned vegetarian for a year, my mother made sinigang without the meat, alternatively using turnips.

How do you make sinigang?

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