Sinigang
Sinigang
A sour Filipino soup — tamarind, tomato, radish, greens, and pork or fish. The sour is the point.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Sinigang.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Total
- 1 hr 5 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

About
Sinigang is a sour broth. Tamarind is the usual sour; kamias, green mango or a mix also happen. Pork ribs or fish, daikon, tomato, onion, kangkong or spinach. A packet of sinigang mix is how a lot of homes do the sour, and we will not pretend they do not.
Ingredients
- Pork, ribs or belly chunks700 g
- Tamarind44 ml
- Tomato2 medium
- Onion1
- Korean radish, daikon, half-moons200 g
- Spinach, or kangkong if you have it150 g
- Fish sauce30 ml
- Fresh chilli (optional)2
- Water1.8 l
- Rice, uncooked, to serve300 g
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Simmer pork, onion and tomato 35 minutes. Add radish. Dissolve tamarind in a little hot broth, strain in.
40 minStep 2
Fish sauce, chilli. Greens in the last 2 minutes. Taste: sour first, then salty.
5 min
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 24 August.
Substitutions
Tamarind → A sour mix of lime and a little brown sugar
Wrong sour. An emergency.
Tips
- A sinigang mix packet is the weeknight sour. Still sinigang.
- Fish sinigang is lighter and faster. Add the fish at the end.
History & culture
The other national soup next to tinola and nilaga. Rice on the side. Sour should make you reach for the rice.
Sour soups are older than any brand packet. Tamarind is the sour that travelled.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation. Original editorial adaptation for I Want Some Food. Not copied from another recipe site. Official recipe photography is pending. Photograph: Joy D. Ganaden via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sinigang%20na%20Baboy%20DSCF4234.jpg
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Sinigang take?
1 hr 5 min all in — 15 min prep, 50 min cook. That is the time on this recipe, not a guess.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 pots. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Stockpot.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Fish sauce — 2 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.
How much fish sauce?
2 tbsp of Fish sauce.
What can I use instead?
Tamarind → A sour mix of lime and a little brown sugar. Wrong sour. An emergency.
Any tips from this recipe?
A sinigang mix packet is the weeknight sour. Still sinigang. Fish sinigang is lighter and faster. Add the fish at the end.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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