Keesa's Shrimp Sinigang

📸 Photo: Sale Salo

Sinigang is a comforting and classic Filipino soup/stew. It gets its characteristic sour flavor from tamarind (a tangy fruit shaped in pods) and calamansi (a tart citrus fruit that is best described as a hybrid between a lime and lemon). Shrimp is featured in this recipe, but you can also use other proteins like pork, chicken, beef, and fish. This recipe is courtesy of Keesa Ocampo of The Filipino Food Movement.

• 4 cups shrimp stock
• Juice of 5 calamansi + more to taste
• 1/4 cup tamarind concentrate
• Fish sauce, to taste
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• Baby heirloom tomatoes, roasted
• 1 lb shrimp
• 1/2 lb long beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 5-6 green finger chili peppers
• 1 eggplant, cut into cubes
• 1 daikon radish, cut into 1/4-inch coins
• 1 cup okra, cut into coins
• 1 bunch bok choy or spinach, rinsed

Directions

Roast the tomatoes: Halve baby heirloom tomatoes and coat them in olive oil, thyme, sea salt, and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Set aside.

Make the broth: Add shrimp heads to 4-5 cups of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove the heads or pass through a sieve. Set aside.

1. Saute the aromatics in olive oil. Add the broth, tamarind concentrate, calamansi juice, and fish sauce to taste and boil over medium heat. Reduce the flame to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste.
2. Put the eggplant, radish, and long beans into a strainer and dunk into the sinigang for 5 minutes until they are tender and translucent. Do not overcook. Set them aside.
3. Add the okra into the broth. Put the bok choy or spinach and chilis into a strainer and dunk into sinigang for 1-2 minutes until they are tender. Set them aside.
4. Put the shrimp into a strainer and dunk into sinigang for 2-3 minutes until they turn orange. Set them aside.
5. Arrange the shrimp and vegetables into a dish, adding the sinigang broth. Garnish with roasted tomatoes. Serve hot, and ideally, with rice.