This hearty Filipino tamarind-based soup is delicious and particularly well-suited for cold weather.
Sinigang is a classic dish in the Philippines. It can take the form of a soup or stew, and derives its sour flavor from tamarind which is a staple fruit in many Asian cultures. If you're curious about the name, it comes from the Tagalog word "sigang" which means "to stew".
Sinigang was one of my favorite dishes growing up, and I still love it to this day. The tangy flavor of the tamarind was so satisfying, and it was always filling since it contained heaps of vegetables and meat.
Once I went vegan, this was one of the recipes I knew I had to veganize. The biggest obstacle was the meat, as it was always a staple part of the dish when I ate it growing up. I tested this recipe with a bunch of high-protein meat substitutes, and I’m happy to say I’ve had success! This dish is now in regular rotation at home. If it's a cold or rainy day (or whenever really), this is the perfect dish to enjoy.
Ingredients Highlights
- Tamarind base - This creates the main flavour profile for this dish. A quick & easy source is a packet of sinigang mix (make sure it's vegan as some brands contain shrimp paste or milk).
- Tomato and onion - These aromatics are nutritious and add a nice additional tangy and spicy flavour kick to the vegan sinigang.
- Eggplant - Typically tough and bitter, eggplant transforms into a healthy and tasty flavour sponge after you cook it in the delicious tamarind-infused soup.
- Daikon radish - Just like eggplant, this vegetable is tough and not very tasty in its raw form. But once you cook it in the sinigang soup, it adds a really pleasant texture to the vegetable contents of this dish.
- Leafy green vegetables - While sinigang is already a veggie powerhouse with the ingredients listed above, adding leafy green vegetables makes it even more nutritious. I find that the stalky ones also have a nice firm but not overly-tough texture after being cooked in the sinigang soup for a while. In the Philippines, kangkong (water spinach) is the vegetable of choice here. However, if you're elsewhere like North America, you may find it hard to find this vegetable since it only grows in tropical climates like Southeast Asia's and isn't widely imported. Thankfully, there are good replacements that are more easily found in Asian groceries like yu choy and gai lan. I've seen some people use bok choy, but I personally find it too large and bulky (though feel free to try it).
- Okra - Rounding out the veggies is one of my favourite vegetables of all time: okra. Cooking it in the tamarind flavour of the soup makes it taste so good. Doing that also reduces the leathery texture it has in its raw form. Okra also grown in many locations around the world, meaning it hopefully isn't going to be hard for you to find.
Why You'll Love Vegan Sinigang
- It's versatile. While I detailed this recipe the way I remember enjoying it growing up, you're totally welcome to customize the vegetables. I've seen people use parsnips, gabi, and even broccoli (which, to me, is a bizarre vegetable to use in this dish, but whatever floats your boat!)
- It's easy (or at least easier). The version of this that uses animal-based meat often involves boiling the meat for upwards of 2 hours just to soften the meat and make sure its clean. Given that this is a meatless recipe, all the cooking time is completely cut out!
- It's healthy. Sinigang includes an absolute plethora of vegetables. Between the leafy greens, eggplant, daikon radish, and other ingredients, you'll be getting loads of healthy nutrients in this soup!
How to Make Vegan Sinigang
Heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of canola oil (or any other neutral-tasting cooking oil). Sauté 1 chopped red onion and 1 wedged beefsteak tomato for 5 minutes in the pot.
Then add 6 cups of water (1.5 litres), the tamarind base, 200g of eggplant (chopped into rounds), and 200g of daikon radish (also chopped into rounds) into the pot. Mix until well-combined. Turn the heat up to high and cook until you see a rapid simmer.
Then add 200g worth of green stalky vegetables, 250g of meaty plant-based protein, and 12 stalks of okra into the pot. Lower the heat to medium then let the soup simmer covered for 15 minutes.
Let it cool until the desired temperature and it's ready to eat! Serving this with rice is recommended.
Tips
- Experiment with the veggies. There are so many different ways to create sinigang. The way I've outlined it is how I personally like it, with several of the ingredients that my parents used for cooking it when I was growing up. But if you'd like to replace any vegetables (e.g. if you absolutely can't stand okra or eggplant) with faves of your own, feel free! I've seen people use parsnip, bok choy, and heck even broccoli!
- Use meaty and dry plant-based protein source. Because you're soaking the protein source in a soup, it tends to get a bit soggy and soft if you don't use a tougher and drier protein source. If you're in Canada, I find that many of King's Vegetarian products work well here like their Vegan Beefy Bites or Roasted Vegan Bites. But feel free to use whatever is local to you. I've even seen some people use tofu in their sinigang, though I personally find that it isn't quite meaty enough.
Vegan Sinigang
Equipment
- large pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil e.g. canola oil
- 1 beefsteak tomato wedged
- 1 red onion chopped
- 6 cups of water 1.5L
- 220 g eggplant chopped
- 280 g daikon radish sliced into rounds
- 1 packet tamarind soup base e.g. Mama Sita's
- 200 g water spinach or other green leafy vegetable (e.g yu choy, gai lan, a-choy)
- 300 g plant-based protein of your choice
- 12 stalks okra
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat.
- Once hot, add vegetable oil into pot and add in onions & tomatoes. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the 6 cups of water, tamarind base, eggplant, and daikon radish into the pot. Bring to a rapid simmer.
- Add the water spinach (or green vegetable of your choice), plant-based protein, and okra.
- Reduce heat to medium again, maintaining a simmer.
- Cook covered for 15 minutes then remove from heat. Enjoy with rice.
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