Pork Sinigang Instant Pot. This is one way of cutting the cooking time short. Truly useful if you're craving pork ribs or pork belly.
One of the most famous dishes in Filipino cuisine is something called "Sinigang na Baboy." No, I was none the wiser when I when first read it, but I did some research and found out that "Sinigang" means "stewed dish," and "Baboy" means pig.
A lot of people consider Adobo to be the national dish of the Philippines. As a word, "Adobo" is both the name of a dish and a generic term for a cooking process involving the marinating and cooking of meat in garlic, soy sauce and vinegar.
Apparently, it was being prepared even before colonization by the Spaniards in the early 1500s.
In the Philipines, soups are often served as main courses along with rice to bulk them out. Examples include Bulalo,Nilaga, Sinigang, and Tinola.
Filipinos often make Sinigang on special occasions such as birthdays, baptisms, weddings, and anniversaries.
You can make it with various proteins, including fish, meat, poultry, or shrimp, plus tomatoes and tamarind. However, it wouldn't be an authentic Sinigang without tamarind.
More often than not, however, it is cooked with pork - hence Sinigang na Baboy.
As far as veggies are concerned, you can use a wide choice of vegetables, including:
- sitaw - Filipino string beans
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Eggplant
- kangkong (similar to spinach or watercress)
- Okra
- Taro root - no, not cards for telling your fortune - it's a starchy, root vegetable. The veggie most often used is bok choy.
- white radish or daikon
As I said earlier, authentic Sinigang used tamarind to get its tart flavor, but people also use calamansi (a sort of cross between limes and lemons) or raw mango to get the sourness.
The heat and the bitterness make Sinigang an absolute must for a cold winter day, and if you've got a sore throat - there's nothing better to soothe it away.
What Sinigang is all about
As with Siningang na Sugpo (Sinigang with Shrimp), the word “Sinigang” is a generic. It refers to a sour, broth-like soup.
Traditionally, the souring agent is tamarind but cooks also use other things mentioned above, including kamias, also called bilimbi, known for their health and nutritional benefits.
The meats most commonly used are beef and pork, although fish, shellfish, and poultry are often used too, as mentioned earlier.
In addition to the veggies already described, Filipinos also add:
- Talbos ng kamote - the green tops of a sweet-potato-like tuber
- Labanos - a type of white radish
- Gabi - known in English as taro
Green finger chilis, the seeds of which you can buy online from Amazon. Whatever ingredients you decide to use, the cooking process remains similar.
- First, you saute the aromatic ingredients to release their spices and aromas, then add your chosen protein and pour in water.
- Once the protein is nearly cooked through, you then add the veggies and cook till ready.
The one thing that does change is when to add the tamarind or whatever souring agent you prefer to use. Usually, you add it just before your throw in the veggies.
If you are using things like guava, or kamias, or whole baby tamarinds, these need to be added earlier than the other veggies to give them the time to soften.
Pork Sinigang instant pot
When you prepare Sinigang as a vegetarian dish, the most important thing is to make a top-quality broth, and to do that, you need to have plenty of bones and the best fresh vegetables you can find.
On the other hand, when making it as a main dish, you can add some good, meaty pieces of pork. Without it, all you'll be serving will be broth with a few veggies and some rice.
Check out this Instant Pot Miso soup recipe below:
Here are a couple of main course ideas you might like to consider.
Option 1
If you want to get the best value for money out of making a Sinagang dish, you can make it with pork on the bone. Take the meat off the bone and serve it as a meal with some stir fry veggies, and you've still got some lovely broth left into which you can add some veggies for another meal or snack,
Option 2
If you prefer a good meaty Sinigang, instead of taking the meat off the broth and serving it as a separate meal, put the pieces of pork back in and serve up as bowls of a delicious meat fest of hot, sour, and substantial soup.
Option 3
You can always leave the meat on the bone and serve it bones and all. It's great if you don't mind sloppy eating by picking up the bones and knawing them clean of meat - it's a fun and pleasant way of eating. Pork tail is a great cut for this.
How does Sinigang na Baboy taste?
Over the decades, the way people impart bitterness to Sinigang has changed. Some cooks still use tamarind, which, to my mind, is best, but you do have to bear in mind to boil it for about 10 minutes longer than the other veggies.
Others use calamansi, guava, or raw mango, as mentioned earlier. Some people even use a combination.
The taste is savory and sour, and the heat comes from the siling mahaba you add. It's one of those dishes whose ingredients people tweak to suit their and their family's preferences.
As well as being nourishing and warming in cold weather (that doesn't mean to say it's not good in hot weather) - you've only got to stop and think where it comes from geographically; it is also very healthy.
Today, of course, many people use off-the-shelf Sinigang soup mix for speed and convenience. Like most things, you can buy them online from Amazon.
If you feel like having a go at cooking it yourself at home, here is the recipe for my instant-pot Sinigang na Baboy.
Ingredients you'll need
- Bok choy - It's easier to separate the pieces, you can cut the hard bottom part of the pechay and wash the leaves.
- Eggplant - I prefer the long, Chinese variety. Don't worry; if you have to buy a few, you can always use any leftover to make kare kare, another absolutely delicious instant pot Filipino dish. If you haven't yet purchased an instant pot, take a look at these and treat yourself.
- Finger chilis - (this is optional )careful, these are hot. Add as many or as few as you like.
- Fish sauce (Patis) - Fish paste is an absolute must for cooking Asian cuisine.
- Labanos (White Radishes) - If you can't get Labanos, ordinary radish will do.
- Long string beans - You only need a few. I usually reserve some after making instant pot Pinakbet - another of my Filipino favorites.
- Okra - as this isn't everyone's favorite, it is optional - I love it.
- Onion - red or yellow
- Pork - I usually turn to pork ribs for this recipe, for the bones, but you can use belly pork too.
- Tamarind - If I can't get any fresh unripe tamarind (not the easiest thing to find), I turn to Knorr Sinigang soup mix. If Amazon is out of stock, Mama Sita Sinigang sa Sampalok mix is more than an excellent alternative.
- Tomatoes - Most recipes call for the tomatoes cut in quarters. However, I find they absorb the bitter tamarind, so I cut them into small pieces to make them more palatable.
- Water - I usually add about six cups. It all depends on how much you're going to make.
Step by step instructions on how to cook pork sinigang
Step 1 Parboiling the Pork:
- Clean the pork nicely and cut it into cubes. In a pot, add water, ginger, salt, and garlic, bring it to a boil by pressing the saute function. Once the water is boiling, place the pork cubes and let them cook for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, press to cancel the saute setting, take the pot off, drain the water and discard the garlic and ginger.
- Proceed to clean the pot and then, rinse the pork in cold running water to remove all the gunk after parboiling. Doing this extra step will get rid of the "raw meat smell" flavor of the pork.
Step 2 Stew the Pork:
- Put the freshly cleaned pot back (into the instant pot), and place the parboiled pork in the inner pot, add tomatoes, sliced white radish, taro (or potatoes), onion, and fish sauce. Pour the chicken stock (if using) or water.
- Plug the Instant Pot, then close the lid, and don’t forget the most important part when cooking with an Instant Pot – setting the steam release handle to “SEALING”.
- Once the lid is closed, pressure cook the pork ribs for the sinigang recipe by pressing “SOUP”, adjust to “normal” and adjust the cooking time to 20 minutes.
- Or you can cook on "MANUAL" for 15 minutes. Then, allow the pressure to release for 5 minutes, then quick release by moving the knob to "vent".
Step 3 Release the Steam:
- You will hear a beeping sound once the pork sinigang is already cooked. Or you would know the recipe is done by checking the timer, it would show something like L000.
- Press Cancel, then toggle the steam release valve (located on top of the lid) to do a quick release.
- Make sure not to put your face near the valve. The initial steam will have water splatting all over so I just do it halfway using an oven mitt to adjust the valve to “VENTING”.
Step 4 Make the Sinigang:
- After the instant pot is done steaming, and the float valve has gone down, you can safely open the lid and skim the scum off the broth.
- Use a spider ladle to transfer the pork, radish, and other vegetables you've added to a serving dish. Set aside.
- Now, it's time to add the fish sauce, sinigang tamarind mix powder into the broth to create the sinigang soup. Mix the broth gently.
- I don't normally use the whole packet of Tamarind soup mix powder. I gradually add 3 tablespoon of the mix + the fish sauce. You can adjust the sourness according to your preference.
Step 5 Cooking the Vegetables:
- It's time to cook the remaining ingredients like eggplant, pechay, okra, long string beans (if using). Add them all to the sinigang broth.
- 2 options to cook the veggies:1.) Press "SAUTE" and cook the vegetables in the broth with the lid open.2.) Close the lid, set the vent again to “SEALING”, press “MANUAL”, set the cooking time to 2 minutes. Once the Instant Pot beeps, release the steam before opening the lid.
- Once the veggies are done, you can add some of them to the serving dish that you set aside, then ladle the broth and serve hot over steamed, white rice.
Interesting recipe: Click here for the Beef Caldereta Slow Cooker recipe
Which is the best cut of pork for Sinigang?
Filipinos love to use pork belly for their Sinigang. Personally, I will use whatever looks the best buy at the time since I'm trying to keep the price down because feeding a family on a budget is always challenging.
Shoulder cuts or ribs are one of my options once in a while, providing I cook the meat a little longer. It is always nice and tender.
Why do Filipinos love Sinigang so much?
The refreshing sour taste of Sinigang makes it the perfect dish for the tropical climate in the Philipines. People have adapted it to use different proteins, adding poultry, fish, or shellfish when they want something a little lighter.
The variations seem almost unlimited. Have you ever stumbled across a dish that goes by the name of Sinigang rice?
In the Philipines, it doesn't get much better than rice and Sinigang. The chilis cause the body to sweat, which is its cooling mechanism - perfect for those hot, humid summer days.
The are many varieties that stem from Sinigang, including paella and Sinigang with strawberries and watermelon. The sweetness of the fruits provides a nice contrast to the sourness of the broth.
It is the sourness that endears this dish to the Filipinos. Foreigners sometimes find it hard to adjust to, but they are hooked once they do, just like the Filipinos.
What is authentic Sinigang?
Tracking down authentic Sinigang is nigh on impossible. There are over 7,000 islands to search, so finding the original version is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
We have already broached some of the variations and offshoots above, but none are perhaps more improbable than Sinigang na corned beef, the invention of Vicky Rose Pacheco, executive chef of the Chateau 1771 group of restaurants,
One recipe, “sinampalukang manok” uses a prepreparation of chicken sauteed with ginger. As this differs from the traditional method of raw chicken being boiled in the broth, and its use of tamarind leaves, many say it is not a true Sinigang.
Another "authentic" Sinigang" uses bangus or milkfish, as known in English, as its protein. Other local Filipino fish used are lapu lapu, and maya maya, Filipino red snapper. Many people today use salmon or tuna.
We can say with reasonable certainty that tamarind was the source of the sourness for which Sinigang is renowned.
This sourness is sometimes offset by introducing sweet fruits such as guava, pineapple, strawberry, and watermelon.
How to tell if Pork Sinigang and other soups have gone off
Most solid foods have clear give-away signs that indicate they have gone off. Mold grows on bread, and veggies wilt, rot, and also go moldy.
All clear signs are past their best and should be binned. But it's not so easy with a broth like Sinigang.
So here are the two most evident signs that all is not well with your leftover Sinigang.
1 The taste
If you have never tasted Sinigang before, judging by its taste, whether or not it has gone off may be a little tricky. It is a sour broth, after all.
But once you've sampled fresh Sinigang, you will realize that its sourness is nonetheless fresh. If it goes off, the sourness is sharp and unpleasant.
2 Look out for bubbles.
Take a quick look at the surface of the broth to see if you can spot any bubbles. If you can spot them or you notice that it is bubbling, and you haven't disturbed it, it could well be spoiled.
Bubbles, in this instance, are caused by fermentation. It means that bacteria have invaded and multiplied and are "burping," which creates the bubbles you can see on the surface of the broth.
Okay, while it is an accepted, necessary and welcome part of bread production, it's not something you want to see in your soup.
It's a bit like yeast which creates bubbles in the dough when you are making bread. If you spot bubbles, you should throw the soup away as it could cause food poisoning.
The basics of good food health safety
Following the guidelines for general food health safety will keep you in good stead with storing Sinigang safely.
- You mustn't leave food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, sometimes no more than one hour. If you follow the one-hour guideline, you won't go far wrong.
- Once cooked food has cooled, you should transfer it into hygienically clean and dry containers.
- Before eating any leftover food, you should reheat it to kill off any nasty bacteria.
For how long can you keep Sinigang in your refrigerator?
Without chili, you can store leftover Sinigang safely by transferring it to a hygienically clean and dry container, putting an airtight lid in place, and within 2 hours maximum, storing it in your fridge for up to a maximum of 2 days.
If you're freezing it, it will be good for up to 3 months. You can reheat it either in a microwave or on your stovetop in a saucepan.
Watch out for these five common mistakes when freezing Sinigang
Having a few containers of Sinigang in your freezer is an excellent way of countering those long winter months. You'll always have a lovely warming broth to look forward to.
So if you aim to make a large batch, some of which you are planning to store in the freezer, here is the list of the things you should avoid when it comes to freezing.
By the way, these mistakes also apply to freezing any soup.
1 Not allowing the soup long enough to cool before freezing
Although this might seem fairly obvious, sometimes people are a little too anxious to get the soup into the freezer and do so before it is appropriately cool.
If you put the soup into the freezing while it is still warm, it can lower the freezer's internal temperature, resulting in the foods already in there defrosting a little.
There is also the added danger of a quick shift in temperature to the soup itself, creating a slight food health safety risk.
A quick tip:
If you want to expedite the colling process after transferring the soup into the container you intend to freeze it in, put it into an ice bath, accelerating the cooling process.
2 Putting too much into the container
This is one of my mistakes in the past as I used to fill the container right to the brim to store as much Sinigang as possible. The problem is that liquids expand as they freeze.
If you overfill the container, the soup inside could expand and split the container or lift its lid. This danger is magnified if you use flimsy two-quart containers.
However, there's the risk of underfilling the container and allowing too much air to trap inside, which can cause freezer burn.
A quick tip:
When filling the container, allow an air gap of approximately 1-inch between the top surface of the soup and the container's lid. This is enough to allow the soup to expand but doesn't leave so much air to cause freezer burn.
3 Putting the pasta in your soup and freezing it
If you put the pasta in your soup when you make it, you must remove it before freezing any leftovers. If you don't, when you defrost and reheat the soup, the pasta will become mushy.
A quick tip:
If you're making a batch of soup, especially for the freezer, hold back any pasta. Freeze the soup without and when you reheat it, prepare fresh pasta and add it to the heated soup before serving.
4 Trying to freeze soup that contains cream or milk
Chowders and bisques that contain cream or milk will not take kindly to freezing. When defrosted and reheated, the texture will become grainy, and the cream or milk will separate.
Non-dairy products such as coconut milk will freeze a little better.
However, even these will not be quite as good as they were when made fresh, so I would still recommend adding non-dairy cream and milk after defrosting.
5 Overcooking the vegetables before freezing
Freezing soup with vegetables often results in the vegetables becoming mushy when defrosted and reheated.
This applies to potatoes in particular, although I recommend you apply this to all veggies.
The problem is that when you reheat the soup at a later date, the vegetables will then overcook.
A quick tip:
Cook the veggies in the soup al dente before freezing.
Pork Sinigang Instant Pot Recipe
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork belly (or pork ribs sliced into cubes)
- 6 cups chicken broth (or water)
- 1 piece yellow onion (peeled and cut into quarters)
- 2 pieces tomatoes (cut in quarters)
- 3 pieces Taro root (medium-sized, peeled, and halved)
- 1 piece Eggplant (cut diagonally)
- 1 piece Daikon radish (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 5 pieces Okra (cut in half, ends trimmed)
- 2 bundles Pechay or Bok choy
- 5 pieces String beans (cut in 2" long)
- 3 tablespoon Mama Sita Sinigang Mix (Tamarind soup base mix)
- 3 pieces finger chili (siling haba) or sweet banana chili **Optional
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon
Instructions
Step 1: Parboiling the Pork
- Clean the pork nicely and cut it into cubes. In a pot, add water, ginger, salt, and garlic, bring it to a boil by pressing the saute function. Once the water is boiling, place the pork cubes and let them cook for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, press to cancel the saute setting, take the pot off, drain the water and discard the garlic and ginger.
- Proceed to clean the pot and then, rinse the pork in cold running water to remove all the gunk after parboiling. Doing this extra step will get rid of the "raw meat smell" flavor of the pork.
Step 2: Stew the Pork
- Put the freshly cleaned pot back (into the instant pot), and place the parboiled pork in the inner pot, add tomatoes, sliced white radish, taro (or potatoes), onion, and fish sauce. Pour the chicken stock (if using) or water.
- Plug the Instant Pot, then close the lid, and don’t forget the most important part when cooking with an Instant Pot – setting the steam release handle to “SEALING”.
- Once the lid is closed, pressure cook the pork ribs for the sinigang recipe by pressing “SOUP”, adjust to “normal” and adjust the cooking time to 20 minutes.
- 2nd Option: You can cook on "MANUAL" for 15 minutes. Then, allow the pressure to release for 5 minutes, then quick release by moving the knob to "vent".
Step 3: Release the Steam
- You will hear a beeping sound once the pork sinigang is already cooked. Or you would know the recipe is done by checking the timer, it would show something like L000.
- Press Cancel, then toggle the steam release valve (located on top of the lid) to do a quick release.
- Make sure not to put your face near the valve. The initial steam will have water splatting all over so I just do it halfway using an oven mitt to adjust the valve to “VENTING”.
Step 4: Make the Sinigang
- After the instant pot is done steaming, and the float valve has gone down, you can safely open the lid and skim the scum off the broth.
- Use a spider ladle to transfer the pork, radish, and other vegetables you've added to a serving dish. Set aside.
- Now, it's time to add the fish sauce, sinigang tamarind mix powder into the broth to create the sinigang soup. Mix the broth gently.
- I don't normally use the whole packet of Tamarind soup mix powder. I gradually add 3 tablespoon of the mix + the fish sauce. You can adjust the sourness according to your preference.
Step 5: Cooking the Vegetables
- It's time to cook the remaining ingredients like eggplant, pechay, okra, long string beans (if using). Add them all to the sinigang broth.
- 2 options to cook the veggies:1.) Press "SAUTE" and cook the vegetables in the broth with the lid open.2.) Close the lid, set the vent again to “SEALING”, press “MANUAL”, set the cooking time to 2 minutes. Once the Instant Pot beeps, release the steam before opening the lid.
- Once the veggies are done, you can add some of them to the serving dish that you set aside, then ladle the broth and serve hot over steamed, white rice.
