How to cook Sinigang? I was always asked this question by
some friends and I’d reply it’s very basic. If you are using pork, chicken, or
beef, boil it first (with no salt, adding salt takes additional time for the
meat to tenderize.) until the meat is evenly cooked. Gather all the fresh
ingredients, chop up all vegetables and pick a good souring agent (tamarind,
kamias, lemon, green mangoes or calamansi). Throw them all in a large pot, wait
to simmer, season the broth until
all the flavors get infused into the meat. A
good sour soup borders on not being too sour or tasteless; the balance of
flavors must be perfectly achieved. The difference in making fish sinigang is
the fish is lastly added as the sour broth gets cooked first. Sinigang
oftentimes uses rice washing to give additional flavor and nutrition. Sinigang
is considered the most indigenous Philippine soup.
I prepared Sinigang na Lapulapu sa Miso last Sunday. My niece
bought a big grouper in Palawan almost 3 kilos. I would have wanted it steamed
but because of its enormous size, I had the head cooked with sour broth, and
the rest cut up for steamed and baked fish for latter use. The first thing to
do is to prepare the fish; I scaled it and clean the guts thru its mouth, careful
on not making any incision in the stomach area. Once the guts are out, next
thing is to remove the scales and fins. I cut it diagonally into desired pieces
and washed it under running water.
Once done, I season it with salt and white pepper and prepare
the vegetables I will use. I used Knorr Tamarind Soup Mix and Philippine miso,
it is very much different from Japanese miso, as it is made and fermented from
a local soya bean and rice wine. As for vegetables, I used native mustard leaves. When
using one, soak the chopped up pieces in salt and water for at least 15 minutes
before cooking to take out the slightly bitter
taste.
Ingredients:
Fresh Lapulapu (grouper)
head and stomach part
3 pcs. 20 gm.packs of Knorr Tamarind
Soup Mix
2 bundles Mustard leaves
chopped
Miso paste 1 cup
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 ginger, chopped
5 green chilies (labuyo)
1 liter water
3 cups rice washing
Salt and white pepper
Procedure:
Sauté ginger, onion and tomatoes. Add in the
miso paste. Lightly brown this sautéed mix.
Pour rice washing and water. Add the Tamarind
soup mix. Boil.
Add the Lapulapu head. Simmer and adjust the
taste as desired. Serve.
Lapu-lapu is truly one of the best tasting fish
there is. It may be a bit pricy because of its luscious texture and excellent
taste, but we got to enjoy a tasty and healthy sour soup that has plenty of
nutrients (omega 3) and vitamins. Recent
studies suggests that supplementing the diet with omega-3 fatty acids not only
can reduce heart attack risks but can also help treat depression, bipolar
disorder, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Fish is indeed good brain food.
Lastly, the healthful
qualities of fish can be neutralized by unhealthful ways of cooking it. Fish
that is battered and fried, slathered with butter, or blanketed in creamy
sauces becomes just another vehicle for putting saturated fat and excess
calories into the body. I prefer fish that is boiled (sinigang, paksiw or
tinola), baked (fish papillote), steamed, grilled, broiled, or smoked. Frying
fish is the last option I make.
No comments:
Post a Comment