Filipino hot and sour soup!
Growing up I remember our cooks boil fresh tamarind until soft and press it through a metal strainer to get the “sour” for this soup. I never had to do that as I always have this packaged “sinigang” mix to use. I think it tastes the same, plus I really do not know where to get fresh tamarind, nor do I have the time to boil and squeeze it. Convenience in semi-home made is precious in our busy lives. It gives me more time to sit and enjoy dinner with my family. ❤️
You can make this with beef too, but I happened to have pork so I used pork. You want the pork to have some fat to make the soup richer and more tasty.
The vegetables I used here are what I remember our soup had, and I LOVE picking out the taro (gabi)! Water spinach is rather hard to find unless I go to an Asian grocery store, and our Tita Naty used spinach when she made it one cold day in Virginia, so I used spinach. Radish, long green beans, onions, and a tomato rounds everything out perfectly. If you want, add 1 or 2 whole long green chili pepper. Do not bruise or cut it. You serve it with the soup, take it out and crush it with some fish sauce in a small saucer, then drizzle it over your soup and rice. Yum! You have yourself a delicious lunch cooked with very little effort. I hope you’ll like this dish!
*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny ELB cup, unless specified.*
Follow me for more recipes for the ELB!
See Itaki’s offerings here! https://www.itakico.com/theresa
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/At-Home-With-Theresa-100255438410727/
Ingredients:
155 grams (1/2 cup or so) cubed boneless pork
30 grams (3-4 pieces) long beans, cut into 1.5” pieces
60 grams (1-2 pieces) taro, peeled and cubed
95 grams (1/2) radish, peeled and sliced thinly
30 grams (1 small) tomato, diced
35 grams (1 tablespoon) minced onion
15 grams (a handful) spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 – 1 tablespoon “sinigang mix” (I used 3/4 tablespoon)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon teaspoon beef bouillon powder
3 ELB cups water for the base
Fish sauce, to serve (optional)
If serving with rice:
2 ELB cups rice, rinsed and drained
2 ELB cups water for the rice
Procedure:
1. In the large ELB bowl, place pork, long beans, taro, radish, tomato, onion, spinach , and water
2. Add the “sinigang mix”, bouillon powder, and fish sauce, if using. Stir to mix.
3. Place bowl in the ELB base. Add 3 ELB cups of water to the base.
4. If preparing with rice, wash and drain 2 ELB cups of rice and place in the small or medium ELB bowl. Add 2 ELB cups water and place on top of the big bowl if using the small bowl (or on the upper level for the medium bowl).
5. Cover the ELB and let steam until it shuts off, about 1 hour.
6. Carefully open the ELB and check the meat and rice for doneness, adding more water to steam longer if necessary.
7. Serve hot and enjoy!