Soup of the Day: Sinigang Na Baboy

Sinigang na baboy is my favorite Filipino dish next to adobo. Plus, it’s one of the very few dishes I actually know how to make (I’m not much of a chef).

This sour soup is a native dish in the Philippines. It can be made with chicken, beef, or shrimp but for this recipe, I chose to use pork sparerib. I have a lot of memories of this soup growing up; during family gatherings, my mom making it when I got sick, and my first attempt at it when I moved out on my own. It’s a soup that is near and dear to my heart.

Ingredients & Tools

• 1 large cooking pot
• 1 cutting surface
• Large knife
• Ladle
• 2 lbs of pork sparerib, cut into smaller pieces (I usually cut it so there are 3 bones in each piece)
• 1 bunch of spinach
• 1 tomato, cut into quarters
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 bunch of string beans
• 1 packet of sinigang na baboy mix (Can be bought at most Ethnic markets)
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• 2 liters of water

Instructions

• Heat the pot with the cooking oil and sauté the onion slices
• Add the pork to the pot and cook until the outer parts are brown
• Add the water and bring to a boil
• Add tomato and wait for about 40 minutes or until meat becomes tender
• Add sinigang packet (Note: Pour contents according to taste. Some people don’t use the entire packet because they don’t like the sour taste; I say use the entire packet because the sour taste is what makes the soup.)
• Add string beans and let the pot simmer for 5 minutes
• Add spinach and turn off the heat. Let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes so the spinach can cook in the remaining heat left in the pot.

Typically, this soup is served with white rice. I usually eat it with white rice. But this week, my partner and I started the paleo diet, which means no rice. Eating the soup without rice was actually pretty good. Although I still recommend eating this dish with rice the first time you try it for the full cultural experience.