Sinigang

Sinigang is a Filipino soup dish known for its sour and savory taste. Traditionally tamarind-based, this sour dish consists of meat – which can be beef, pork, fish or shrimp – and vegetables like okra, water spinach (kang kong), daikon (labanos), onions, and eggplant. Sometimes the tamarind can be switched with guava, calamansi, or even unripe mango, depending on the cook’s preference. Green long peppers (siling mahaba) are also added to the dish to add some spice. There are also variations such as sinigang sa miso and sinigang na baboy at hipon. With its sour soup, sinigang is marked as Filipino comfort food. It rouses the senses because of the sourness and slight spice. Also, ingesting the long peppers can make the body sweat, which helps it to cool especially during a humid day. Food historians even commended sinigang for being a refreshing and appetite-boosting dish perfect for the Philippines’ tropical climate.