Why Sinigang Can’t Ever Be Healthy
September 27th, 2006 by Ianne EvangelistaPosted in Life at Cosmo |
I made my first sinigang, ever. I woke up one morning with an intolerable craving for sinigang na manok, and the second I arrived at galleria, I scoured the food court for the sour soup I would pour all over my rice, with chicken pieces I’d dip into patis and calamansi. Wala. I thought to call my mom for a batch of her killer sinigang, but then I knew I’d hear words like ‘yan kasi, matuto, and magluto. So, after work, I went to the supermarket, picked up some sitaw, okra, chicken, and a packet of sinigang mix, then rushed home to cook.
Now, the sinigang packet said, boil meat in water until tender, then add sinigang mix and vegetables. Easy enough! Being a woman of the 21st century in her own kitchen, I thought to make my sinigang healthy. I trimmed the fat off the chicken, I skipped the starchy rice water, I dropped in the vegetables only at the last minute to retain their nutrients.
“It doesn’t look right,” said my husband, glasses fogging as he leaned in to smell the soup. “It’s not…gray. It’s supposed to be gray,” he claimed. He was right. My sinigang, however, was clear and dull, not the cloudy gray broth with shimmering discs of fat.
Then like a Daza kitchen expert, he said, “let it boil for a long time, until the vegetables are mushy. Look o, they’re firm pa. It’ll be gray by then.” Healthy soup now a lost cause, I was helpless with three liters of bland water filled with ingredients bobbing up and down the surface. My husband’s advice was all I had to go with.
Later, slumped over the couch thinking about making omelet sandwiches for dinner, I suddenly heard a voice from the kitchen: “It’s gray na!” I hurried to the pot, and stirred what became the players of a true sinigang. Ripped tomato skins, split sitaw, gooey okra, and onions as clear as tape. The chicken pieces were so tender, they broke into strips.
We ate my sinigang na manok, murky and tart, with hot rice and a glasses of coca-cola. The vegetables were mush, nutrients completely disintegrated, pulpy chunks of produce, useless. It was very gray, and absolutely delicious. Next: sinigang na baboy, fat all in!
Hi, Ianne! I can so relate. I realized why my sinigang wasn’t tasting the same as sinigang over there when I really looked at the pork I’ve been buying: For some weird reason, their baboy has not much taba! Baka ito ang kasagutan sa French paradox?
Kurasts! Pero ang tanong: ano ang pampaasim nyo diyan? Citron? Guave? May “kamiasse” ba diyan? Unless of course may sinigang mix na palang nabibili sa Provensiya ; )
Hee, my stepdaughter Angie’s mom regularly sends me Mama Sita sinigang mix from England :) International cuisine ba ang tawag dito?
Mama Sita from England?! Laki na ng patong nun! What’s your address, I’ll send you he he. Yes, it’s chunnel sinigang.
hello, this is my first time to visit your blog…and when my son saw what im doing,he said “hindi nga kaya addict ka na mommy sa Cosmo? Yan na ng binabasa mo maghapon pati ba naman sa internet yan pa din…” I just smiled kasi mukhang totoo nga.
> anyway, this “sinigang na manok” really intrigue me because I never tasted anything but sinigang na baboy. And you’re right, dapat my fat naman maski konti. Next time you cooked, try mo sinigang na baboy and choose the belly part or what they called “hiwa sa tiyan” and try to saute the meat before boiling it. And oh, don’t forget to use sinigang mix with gabi…para mas masarap.
Thanks for your tips Lani! Will try the mix with gabi nga…as for using baboy, pa-minsan-minsan lang naman, right? That’s actually my favorite sinigang. I also got some tips from a chef friend, who told me to use rice water for the soup. Your son is so funny!
I’m going to try menudo next, let me know if you have any tips…wish me luck!
i think sinigang is gray because of gabi. when i cook, i boil gabi with the meat. before adding vegetables, i mush gabi until it dissolves into the soup. like you, i like my vegetables healthy and crunchy so i only half cook them.
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