A Scientist in the Kitchen

This was a perfect way to end the day. It was drizzling in the afternoon, and was largely spent on a lot of details at work. Earlier this morning, I was out in the field (I had maruya for snacks, hehe). I was bent on finishing a project, but what the heck, I just shut down my computer and the thought of sinigang came into my mind. I had bought two slices of talakitok last Sunday at the GenSan market thinking I would just fry them. But sinigang is indeed a better idea. As for the sampalok, I always buy them whenever I see them in the market, for just this very occassion – a sudden craving for the sour goodness of sinigang.

When cooking sinigang, I follow no exact proportion. All I need are the meat or seafood, a souring agent (in this case, sampalok), a tomato, kangkong or dahon ng sili (if seafood),siling pansigang, and fish sauce to taste. If I’m using pork or beef, I usually add some gabi or taro to thicken the soup. Tonight, I used dahon ng sili and added a  teaspoon of Japanese miso to thicken the soup.

Bring water to a boil. Add the tomato, sampalok and sili. Let sampalok soften, remove from the pot and transfer to a bowl. Add several tablespoons of broth and mash the tamarind. Strain and bring back the juice to the boil pot. Add the fish, let boil,  till fish is cook. Remove fish from pot. Add a tsp of Japanese miso paste to the boiling broth, making sure it is well dissolved before checking for taste. Adjust saltiness with fish sauce if necessary. Add the dahon sili and simmer a few minutes till  leaves are done. Bring back the fish to the pot, boil till heated through then serve.