Sinigang reminds me of home. This is the dish I used to cook when I am homesick. I like the salty-sour thick soup that goes with it. At home, we use sampaloc (tamarind) instead of the usual mix you can buy. And we use lots of gabi to thicken the sauce. We usually use pork belly or liempo for sinigang.

Sinigang na Liempo

1 kilo pork belly
2 large tomatoes
2-3 pcs eggplant
200 grams gabi/taro
1 bunch of kangkong
2-3 long green sili (siling haba)
a handful of sampaloc
patis (fish paste) or salt to taste

Cut the liempo into serving pieces. Place in a pot and cover with enough water. Bring to a boil, remove scum then continue boiling till tender. Add more water if necessary and make sure there is enough broth left when meat is tender. Chop the tomatoes then add to the pot. Continue boiling till tomatoes are softened. Next add the gabi (slice into serving pieces – depending on how you like it, actually). When gabi is soft, remove half of it from the pot and mash. Set aside. Add the sampaloc (the handful is just an estimate, we usually buy it in a small bunch of several pieces and use all of them) and boil till tender. Remove all of the sampaloc and put in a bowl. Add the egg plant and siling haba to the pot and continue to simmer. While eggplant is cooking, scoop out about a cup of broth and add to the bowl of sampaloc. Mash the sampaloc to remove the flesh. You can add more broth if you like. Strain the sampaloc and return the broth to the pot. Add the mashed gabi and bring to a boil. Season with patis or salt. Add the kangkong and simmer a few minutes till  it is cooked. Serve with rice, of course.

How do I like my sinigang? The salty-sour taste should be well-balanced – “nag-aagaw ang alat and asim“, thick soup with a hint of chili.

Sinigang is not complete without the dipping sauce. I usually have patis and kalamansi and mashed siling haba that cooked with the sinigang.

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