Warmth, umami melding with sour tamarind undertones–sinigang, is a Filipino soup for the soul. It’s comfort food, it’s versatile, and it’s impossible to mess up. Throw an Instant Pot into the mix, and you can have this with bone stock as the base (if that’s your taste) without much effort or mess. Trust me, if you love flavor fast…this is a win win. I will warn you I love mine sour (read extra tamarind) as that’s how my mother always made it, so the tamarind ratio in this version is a little skewed, dilute with more water/stock if you aren’t into sour notes. But you’re missing out, Filipino food celebrates how tart tones paint  and elevate a palate.

Sinigang na Baka [Beef Sinigang]

Serves 8
Note: you can always substitute beef for seafood or vegetables en totality, just tweak your stock/broth as needed. You really can make a sinigang with almost any protein

Ingredients

  • 1.5-2 lb Beef Bones (with meat)
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 Tamarind powder packet (ex. Mama Sita)
  • 1″ knob of ginger, sliced to preference
  • 2 Tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 Medium or 1/2 Large Yellow Onion, sliced
  • 1 lb (fresh or frozen) green beans, ends removed cut in ~1.5″ length
  • Daikon Radish chopped (optional)
  • Bok Choy (optional)
  • Black Pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Put water and beef bones into Instant Pot. Hit Manual, 10 minutes, close lid, and check that vent is set to sealed. Chop other ingredients while you wait for your stock to be made!
  2. Once Instant Pot indicates that it’s done, either pressure release (turn the knob) or wait for the seal to fall to open (natural pressure release, takes about 20 minutes). Open and stir in tamarind. Taste and add more water if it seems too sour for your tastes.
  3. Dump all vegetables into Instant Pot. Hit Soup, 10 minutes, close lid, move vent to sealed.
  4. Once Instant Pot indicates that it’s done, either pressure release (turn the knob) or wait for the seal to fall to open (natural pressure release, takes about 20 minutes). Add pepper to taste, enjoy.

That’s it. Seriously. This is a simple soup–made simpler with an Instant Pot–that pairs well with rice or standalone. At the heart of it, once you add in green beans, everything else is dealer’s choice. I love how Daikon adds a slight sweetness when it cooks, so I add it in. I’ve thrown in eggplant, spinach, kalamungay (super traditional move here), carrots; almost any vegetable pairs well in this.

If you want to substitute beef, skip step 1. Step 1 is really focused on creating stock, and unless you have chicken bones or crustacean shells you can put in cheese cloth to easily remove after, you probably want to use a stock of choice than make it in this. Don’t worry about the 10 minutes, it doesn’t start until the pot has reached pressure.

I’ll add a photo next time I make this, but while preparing for a move that might be a while.

Stay Hungry!
XOXO
Mish ❤

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