Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Shrimp Sinigang

My younger son is so fond of shrimps. When we were in the PI, my mother would steam shrimps and just let it sit in the fridge as fingerfood of her favorite apo (grandson). So, even if shrimps are quite expensive here (they are expensive even in PI), I buy them from time to time for variation. One of the favorite shrimp dishes is the sinigang. Never fails with the kids. I don't bother offering it to husband as he is not fond of seafoods (would only eat scallops and haddock and red salmon, as far as I know).



I think the sour-salty taste of sinigang is characteristically Pinoy. So I don't attempt to offer it to foreigners.



I usually buy from the grocery store the E-Z peel uncooked jumbo shrimps. These shrimps already are beheaded, and veins removed (to my dismay! I could use those for seafood broth to be used in pancit!).



BOIL in a saucepan (all amounts approximations only' serves 3 persons):



3 cloves garlic

5 peppercorns

1 medium onion

2 med tomatoes cut in half

2-3 cups water

2 small peeled taro



until the tomatoes are throughly cooked and incorporated in the mixture very well.

Add:



1/2 lb shrimps

green beens (or later if you want it crispy)

salt to taste

sinigang mix (about 1 tbsp)



Wait for about 2 minutes or until shrimps are cooked. Then add the greens. Suggestions are:



a handful of:



cabbage

chinese cabbage (this looks like the baguio pechay in PI)



and turn off the heat. Let the residual heat wilt these last additions. Serve immediately with plain rice, placed in individual serving bowls.



My boys usually ask for a separate small bowl of just the broth and slurp it down as a finale.

Posted by Hello

4 comments:

Sognaluna said...

I'll bet my husband would love this. He makes me a Sinagang out of Chicken. My question is instead of Sinagaang mix, can I use Tamarind Soup Base, which is something my husband puts in his soup to make it sour? Will it work the same in this recipe?

My all time favorite soup is his Sinagaang Manok-- he leaves everything in large pieces. First he boils a couple boneless skinless chicken breast halves in about 8 cups of water (he makes a lot because when I am sick and ask for this, I want to eat nothing else for DAYS!). When it's tender, he removes the chicken and brings the broth to a boil. Then he adds large pieces of ginger, garlic, tomatoes, green bell peppers and Swiss Chard. Being Irish and German, I've asked him to incorporate potatoes, too, from now on. *laugh* When the vegetables are almost tender, he cuts the chicken into large pieces and adds them back to the broth. Then he adds salt and pepper to taste, and Knorr Tamarind Soup mix (usually only half a packet of this). It's soooooo wonderful!

I would like to repay him with making the shrimp soup of yours, though. I think he will like it!Like your son, my husband could eat just plain shrimp with nothing else. He is a shrimp-a-holic! I don't eat it, but I've learned to make in many ways which have become his favorite-- Popcorn shrimp, shrimp tempura, shrimp ginataang, etc. Even when I just fry it in a pan with butter, garlic, red pepper flakes and bread crumbs, he adores it. (To me, they resemble the grub worms one finds when digging soil in the garden in Maine-- you must've seen them!). Anyway, thanks for this recipe!

drstel said...

offer it Manang, you might be pleasantly surprised. i made this for a big dinner party once, with adobo, all er...caucasians...they went gaga for it.
my SIL loved it at first try too. it's a lot crisper and clearer in taste than the thai "tom yum" they are more likely to be familiar with, good but too spicy sometimes.
not even frozen shrimps with heads and tails??? ayayay. hope your boys never lose their taste for pinoy food!
email kita mamaya, kulong kami ng mga bata eh...we have a bit of cabin fever...

Anonymous said...

thank you manang for your recipe. i have been looking for the right sinigang recipe for a while now and i tried making it myself but none of them tasted like my mom's sinigang. this recipe is delicious thank you so much

Manang said...

you are so welcome, anonymous!1

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