Pork Sinigang with Gabi is the All-Time Favorite Pinoy Recipe for Rainy Days

This is what you might just need to survive the remaining weeks of winter.

Asian cuisine is a mysterious wonder even for the seasoned gastronome and well-traveled Westerner. The unusual ingredients and methods of cooking give the dishes its bold and intriguing flavors. Taste is culturally relative. What could be palatable and exciting to Asians might be uninviting to the Western palate due to the novelty of the flavors or simply because the mouthfeel puts them off. Our preferences and aversion to certain foods simply tell us about the culture we are accustomed to; it never means the food outside our culture are inedible and downright bad.

Take for example sour dishes found in many countries in the East. Asians are known for their high tolerance to sour tastes. The abundance of sour exotic fruits in this region is obviously the main reason why Asians have learned to appreciate the sharp tang of tamarind, green mango, or bilimbi that make its way to traditional dishes. The sourer the soup is the better. But it isn’t just benign masochism; the acidity reduces fishy smell and greasiness in meat and fish. Sour dishes also help whet one’s appetite and boost the immune system during cold season.

In a country often experiencing wet spell, the sour Sinigang comes close to the world-famous Adobo as the quintessential Filipino comfort food. Sinigang is a big part of Filipinos’ cultural taste and it is almost always associated to sick days or when there is storm and you need to keep yourself warm. The mouthwatering sourness of Sinigang comes from the choice of guava, santol (cotton fruit), green mango, tamarind, or calamansi. Sinigang can also vary depending on the protein: chicken, fish (usually milkfish), seafood (shrimp), pork, or beef. Mixing gabi or taro gives the broth a rich and milky aftertaste and it is best used for pork sinigang.  This recipe from Foxy Folksy uses pork ribs and recommends tamarind powder as substitute when fresh tamarinds are not available. A variety of vegetables are thrown in to add freshness and crunch.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs pork ribs, cut into serving pieces
• 2 liters water
• 1 medium red onion, cut into quarters
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 pcs medium taro, peeled and cut into quarters
• 6 pieces string beans, cut into 2-inch long pieces
• 1 medium radish, peeled and cut diagonally
• 2-3 finger chilies
• 8 pieces small okra
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 bunch kangkong (water spinach), leaves and stalks separated
• Sinigang powder mix
• Salt to taste

Get these ingredients from My Tindahan here.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large pot, place pork ribs and add water. Bring to a roiling bot. Use a slotted spoon to remove the scum that come up to the surface.
2. Add red onion, tomatoes, and fish sauce. When it starts to boil again, cover the lid and turn to low heat. Let it simmer until meat is tender and cooked through.
3. Add the taro. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add string beans and radish. Let it simmer again for 2 minutes.
4. Add the okra, eggplant, finger chili, and the kangkong stalks.
5. Add sinigang powder and mix until dissolved. Season with salt if preferred.
6. Before all the vegetables are done, toss in the kangkong leaves. Turn off the heat and let the vegetables get cooked in the steam.  
7. Serve with plain steamed rice. For the dip, complement sinigang with fish sauce with some squashed chilies.

Photo courtesy of Foxy Folksy.