This page may contain affiliate links. So, I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. Here is a post about the amazingly delicious Filipino dish called Sinigang!
What is Sinigang?
Sinigang…where have you been all my life? This AMAZING soup or stew is one of the most popular dishes in Filipino cuisine! It is characterized by being sour, tangy, and intensely savory. This sour taste is usually due to tamarind, although guava is commonly used as a souring agent as well.
Sinigang means “stewed” and the dish consists of vegetables and meat (i.e.pork, beef) or seafood (fish or shrimp). Common vegetables used in this Filipino dish include sitaw (long beans), tomatoes, onions, water spinach (kang kong), okra, daikon radish, long green peppers. The perfect condiment for this soup is fish sauce!
Mama Sita’s Hot Sinigang Sa Sampalok Mix
My good friend Elena on Instagram introduced me to this dish and gave me recommendations on what ingredients I would need. The picture above shows the seasoning mix that I used, recommended by Elena. Mama Sita’s products are truly all you need if you want to dip your toes into Filipino cuisine. They have a HUGE range of products, one of which is the AMAZING Hot Sinigang Sa Sampalok Mix that I used to make my sinigang!
They also have a regular version (not hot), so if you are not a fan of hot and spicy you can pick up the regular version. But please know the Hot version is INCREDIBLE!
You should be able to find this at your local Asian market. Here I also link to the Mama Sita’s seasoning packets if you would like to buy them from Amazon (they are expensive on Amazon):
Now that we know what seasoning mix to use, let’s further discuss the yummy veggies that go into this stew!
The Ingredients Needed For This Yummy Delicious Prawn Sinigang!
Previously I mentioned some common vegetables used in sinigang. Here I share what I used and provide some recommendations on substitutions!
The ingredients I used include the following:
- Sitaw (long green beans) – you can substitute regular green beans if you can’t find sitaw!
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Daikon radish
- Spinach (if you can find kang kong which is water spinach so much the better! I couldn’t find it so used regular spinach. However, Elena recommended bok choy as a substitute because the spinach kind of melts away!)
- Serrano peppers – I used these because I could not find long green peppers which are a kind of pepper that is used in Filipino cuisine. Serrano worked fine, but use long green peppers if you can acquire them!
In addition to the veggies, this is a prawn sinigang so I used 2 pounds of gorgeous Argentinian prawns for this dish!
It’s my understanding that Prawn Sinigang is commonly served with the head on the prawn. However, my husband would have thrown a fit, so I used these head off and shell on prawns which worked perfectly. You will need to peel off the shells when eating so it does get a bit messy, but it’s all worth it! Be sure to have an extra plate or bowl to throw the peeled shells into. 🙂
Let’s Make Prawn Sinigang!
Once you have the veggies assembled making Prawn Sinigang is a snap! Simply:
Bring water, tomatoes and onions to the boil and simmer for a few minutes…
After adding the Mama Sita’s Seasoning MIx, add the serrano peppers, sitaw, and daikon radish and simmer for an additional few minutes…
Next add your incredible prawns! Simmer until the prawns are cooked, and then add the spinach (or kang kong or bok choy) at the end. Taste and adjust for seasoning by adding fish sauce to taste.
Now all that is needed is to dish into some lovely serving bowls, and get ready to serve with a bowl of rice to accompany the Prawn Sinigang. Time to pucker up! 🙂
This dish is totally refreshing. Sour due to the tamarind and the prawns and vegetables were just absolutely perfect.
I can’t believe it took me sooo long to discover this dish. And I am forever grateful to Elena for introducing me to it.
Once you have tried this, I’m pretty confident in stating that you will crave for it again and again!
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
Classic and Super Simple Filipino Chicken Adobo
Super Easy Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice
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Cheers!
Grace
Incredibly Delicious Prawn Sinigang
Ingredients
- 1 packet Mama Sita's Sinigang Sa Sampalok I used the HOT version feel free to use the regular
- 2 lbs prawns I used head off shell on prawns; for a more authentic version use head on prawns
- 10 cups water
- 1 cup tomatoes quartered
- 1/2 cup onions quartered
- 2 cups sitaw cut into 2" pieces; if you can't find sitaw, regular green beans will do just fine!
- 2 cups Daikon radish peeled and sliced
- 4 ea Serrano pepper or long green peppers, sliced lengthwise
- 2 cup green leafy spinach use kang kong (water spinach) if you can find it; can also sub bok choy
- fish sauce to taste
Instructions
- Bring water, onions and tomatoes to a boil in a large saucepan.
- Add the entire pouch of Mama Sita's Sinigang Sa Sampalok to the saucepan. Bring to a roiling boil. Then add the daikon radish, sitaw, and serrano peppers. Cover and allow to simmer for around 5 minutes.
- Add the prawns and then simmer for about 3-5 minutes until the prawns are cooked. Remove from the heat and add the spinach (or kang kong or bok choy). Cover and allow to steam cook for a couple of minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning adding additional fish sauce to taste.
- Serve HOT in a beautiful bowl, with rice on the side!
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