Sinigang na Salmon – Filipino Sour Fish Soup

Sinigang is a staple Filipino dish that has tamarind as the souring agent.

Even with the hot, humid, tropical weather in the Philippines, you will see us eating and ordering it when there’s a chance.

We are right in the middle of winter where we are, and what better excuse than to make this?

Fish heads are a common delicacy in the Philippines. It has a richer taste that is perfect for soups and stews. This dish is usually eaten with rice. With a bunch of vegetables and the warm kick of ginger and onion, it is perfect for winter and takes me back home in an instant.

You can mostly find fish heads in Asian stores near you. If you’re a little hesitant, though, you can start with fish fillets but note that the flavor profile will be slightly different.

Here’s how I made it.

Start with preparing some white rice by washing them three times, saving the second or third rice wash (hugas bigas/ pinag-unaban) to use as the broth.

Cut up your veggies and fish accordingly. Some of the staple ingredients for sinigang are tomatoes, onions, ginger, a type of string bean/long bean, eggplant, okra, and some leafy greens.

Although I didn’t have all the ingredients mentioned, here’s an idea list showing what I didn’t have on hand and the things I have used instead.

Onions – I used spring onions from the garden. Cut the tops and shred them thin. This helped give a mild onion flavor. I also put a good amount enough to serve as another vegetable.

Snake beans or sitaw – used green beans from the garden that was previously blanched and frozen.

Water spinach or Kangkong – used up the remaining cabbage in the fridge and cooked until soft.

Start off by boiling the tomatoes, onions, and ginger in the rice wash. While that’s going, season the fish with some salt. Drop it in the boiling broth, then add the tamarind soup mix. The fish cooks pretty quickly and there’s barely any wait time. Once it boils again you can drop the rest of your vegetables of choice. I put the cabbage and green beans together and turned the heat on low, just until the vegetables are cooked. Remove from heat to prevent the vegetables from getting soggy.

I also fried some lumpia to partner with the sinigang. For some reason, anything soupy and something crunchy is always a good combination.

Try it and let me know what you think!