Palate Playground

Passport & Plate - What Sunday tastes like

Philippines | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
• Salmon head and belly
• String beans
• Garlic
• Red Onions
• Tomatoes
• Tamarind base
• Miso base
• Ginger
• Fish sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• Chicken broth cubes
• Calamansi (or Lime)
• Green finger peppers
• Mustard leaves
• Taro corms

 

How to prepare this recipe
1. Marinate the salmon head/belly with calamansi or lime juice, salt and pepper to tame its gamey taste. Let the salmon marinate for about an hour. Grill on high heat for one minute to get that smokey flavour, then let it cool. Once cooled, put it all inside a ziplock bag, seal it and put it on ice to stop the cooking process and to keep the moisture of the fish as you prepare the rest of the dish.

2. For the soup, roughly chop and then sauté the garlic, ginger, onions, taro corms and tomatoes together.

3. Place ¼ cup of fish sauce and let it simmer. Put the chicken broth cubes and then add about 2 liters of water. Let it boil for around 5 minutes. Then strain it, discarding all the ingredients and leaving just the soup.

4. Add the miso base and tamarind base according to your preference. Let it boil for a few minutes.

5. Remove the salmon head/belly from its ice bath and place it inside your soup. Add two to three (2-3) pieces of green finger peppers and let it boil for about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper as you please.

6. Add the string beans, mustard leaves. Then serve.

 

The story behind this recipe
Sinigang has always been one of my sources of comfort when it comes to food. Since I was a kid, it has been a special staple dish in our family lunch menu that Sundays spent with the family wouldn’t be complete without it. With just a sip of the sour & fruity Sinigang soup, unforgettable childhood memories are triggered and familiar emotions arise once again.

Whenever I’d get to visit my grandma Mamaling in the province she never fails to prepare Pork Sinigang just the way I like it. Her Pork Sinigang is a spoonful of tangy, mushy, melt-in-your-mouth pork goodness in every bite. It's a welcome home treat served in a bowl.

When I’d spend Sundays with my father’s family, my dad’s mom Mami would cook up her Milkfish Sinigang with Miso soup. Mami's
Sinigang is a superstar on its own because of how its aroma gives out this heartwarming, tummy-tingling sensation which easily catches everyone’s attention and brings us all together on the dining table.

Sinigang is also like a celebratory dish. During some occasions when I’d find myself enjoying rare, work-free weekends, my Mama would wake up extra early on a Sunday morning just to prepare her sweet and tangy Shrimp Sinigang just for me, just because I'm home on a Sunday.

For this contest, the Sinigang recipe I’m sharing is the version that I just recently familiarized my taste buds with: my close friend Wally's Salmon Sinigang in tamarind & miso soup.
With this recipe, a new flavour has come in to play in my palate playground: smokiness. Grilling balanced out the eccentricities of the fish’s naturally gamey flavour, making the overall Sinigang experience quite different, but certainly exceptional.

Honestly for me, every bowl of Sinigang cooked by my loved one is exceptional because I know it's always made with love and gusto... and Wally's Salmon Sinigang is exactly that: it exceptionally reminds me of what Sundays taste like.