P
Filipino
Sinigang na Baboy
Sinigang na baboy is the Philippines' most beloved sour soup — pork ribs or belly in a tamarind-based broth with kangkong (water spinach), long green beans, radish, eggplant, tomato, and onion, seasoned with fish sauce and seasoned with the characteristic souring agents that vary by region: tamarind (sampalok) in Tagalog regions, guava in Bicol, kamias (bilimbi) in Visayas. The sour broth is not a background note — it is the dominant flavour profile, and the sinigang should be bracingly, unapologetically sour. The pork provides richness against the acid; the kangkong and vegetables soften in the hot broth but must retain slight colour; the fish sauce provides depth without fishiness. Sinigang is comfort food of the highest order in the Philippines.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
1 kg
pork ribs or pork belly
cut into portions
Your own market
200 g
fresh tamarind pods
shelled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
1
onion
quartered
Your own market
200 g
daikon radish
peeled, sliced into rounds
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
eggplant
cut into chunks
Your own market
150 g
long green beans (sitaw)
cut into 5 cm lengths
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
kangkong (water spinach)
leaves and tender stems only
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 ml
fish sauce (patis)
plus more at table
Your own market
1.5 litres
water
divided
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the pork in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the liquid. Rinse the pork under cold running water. The blanch is complete when the exterior of the meat is grey and the water is clouded with scum — this scum must be removed entirely before the final broth is built.
2
Return the blanched pork to a clean pot. Add 1.5 litres of fresh water, the shelled tamarind pods, quartered tomatoes, and quartered onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook, partially covered, until the tamarind pods have fully dissolved into the broth and the pork is beginning to become tender — approximately 40–50 minutes. The broth is ready to strain when the tamarind pulp has entirely broken down and the liquid has taken on a tawny, amber colour with a distinctly sour aroma.
3
Remove the tamarind pods and strain the broth if necessary to remove seeds and fibrous pulp. Return the broth and pork to the pot. This is where the dish lives or dies: taste the broth now for sourness. It must be bracingly, assertively sour — enough to tighten the jaw. If the acidity is timid, the result is not sinigang but merely a pork broth with sour undertones. Adjust by simmering with additional tamarind if needed before proceeding.
4
Add the fish sauce to the broth. Stir and taste — the broth should carry depth and salinity without any forward fishiness. Add the radish slices and simmer until beginning to soften but not yet yielding — approximately 5 minutes. The radish is ready when a knife tip meets slight resistance at the centre.
5
Add the eggplant and simmer for a further 3–4 minutes until the flesh has softened and taken on the colour of the broth at its edges but holds its shape. Then add the long green beans and cook for 2 minutes.
6
Add the kangkong last. Submerge the leaves and tender stems in the hot broth, turn off the heat, and allow residual heat to wilt the kangkong for no more than 1 minute. The kangkong is done when it has wilted but retains its green colour — it must not turn grey or army-drab.
7
Ladle into deep bowls, ensuring each portion contains pork, all vegetable components, and ample broth. Serve immediately alongside steamed white rice, with a small dish of fish sauce (patis) at the table for individual seasoning.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Fresh tamarind pods, simmered with the pork from the start: the tartaric and malic acids integrate with the fat and collagen of the pork over a long simmer, producing a rounded, layered sourness that no shortcut can replicate.
02
Estate — Fresh tamarind pulp (block), reconstituted in warm water, strained, and added early in the cook: flavour integration is nearly as complete as whole pods, and the sourness is clean.
03
Market — Tamarind powder (commercial sinigang mix): workable and widely used in the Philippines, but the acidity is flatter and the broth lacks the natural fruit sugars of fresh tamarind; measure with discipline, as over-addition produces a sharp rather than rounded sourness.
04
House — Tamarind concentrate added at the end of cooking: the sourness is not integrated into the broth and reads as a surface note; acceptable as a last resort only.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. After the tamarind has simmered with the pork, the broth carries a sour, fruity aroma with no raw or meaty undertone — the tamarind is fully extracted.
◇Taste. The broth causes a perceptible tightening at the jaw on the first sip — the acidity is dominant, not merely present.
◇Sight. The broth is clear and amber-tawny, not grey or clouded — evidence that the blanch was thorough.
◇Sight. The kangkong retains its bright green colour after wilting — it has not been overcooked.
◇Touch. The radish yields to a knife tip but is not soft — it has cooked through without dissolving into the broth.
◇Where it lives or dies. The sourness must be assertive before any vegetable enters the pot — a timid broth cannot be corrected by cooking and cannot be called sinigang.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year