Description
This vegan Sinigang is a Filipino tamarind-based sour soup packed full of vegetables and greens, cooked in an aromatic broth. Don’t let the word vegan fool you, this vegetable-based recipe will fulfill your cravings and still hit the spot; it’s the perfect comfort meal for any time of the day.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered (red onion also works)
- 2 medium tomatoes, quartered
- Optional: 1 cup plant-based protein, such as vegan beef chunks, vegan pork, or tofu
- 200g tamarind paste
- 7 cups water, divided
- 4 cups vegan beef broth
- 2 tablespoons vegan fish sauce
- 12 pieces of okra, ends removed
- 2 banana peppers * (see notes)
- 1 medium eggplant, trimmed, cut into rounds
- 1 zucchini, trimmed, cut into rounds
- 1/2 large daikon radish, peeled, sliced into half-moons
- 1 heaping cup green beans or long beans (sitaw), ends removed and cut into 3-inch pieces
- 2 big handfuls of spinach or kangkong (leaves and tender stems)
- Salt and black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add tamarind paste along with 4 cups of water. Bring the mixture to boil, then remove from heat and cover. Allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes. Remove lid and mash with a potato masher. Pour the mixture through a strainer or a mesh bag (be careful, allow it to cool first). Reserve the strained mix for the soup, and discard or compost the seedy pulp.
- Over medium heat in a large pot, add in oil. Once heated, saute onions, garlic, and tomatoes until fragrant and softened, about 4 minutes.
- Optional: Add in the plant-based protein of your choice and saute for 4 more minutes.
- Pour in half of the tamarind broth, along with the vegan fish sauce, the remaining 3 cups of water, vegetable broth, okra, banana peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and radish. Taste the broth and season with black pepper as needed. Add more of the tamarind broth to taste, until the broth is to your desired sourness.
- Bring to a rapid boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the green beans and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until everything is tender, and the okra is soft. Lastly, add in the spinach or kangkong and stir through. Cover for about 1-2 minutes more to help soften it up fully
- Taste the broth and season with additional salt if needed. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy!
Notes
- Vegan Fish Sauce: Some brands sell vegan fish sauce online if you’re unsure where to find vegan fish sauce.
- Tamarind Paste: Most large Asian supermarkets will carry it, but if y9o9u can’t find it locally, you can order it online HERE.
- If you would like it even sourer, add more tamarind broth, lemon juice, or calamansi juice when serving.
- Banana Peppers: You can slice open or chop the peppers if you want more spice in the recipe. We could not find banana peppers so we opted for yellow caribe peppers and they worked perfectly. You can also opt for any other spicy pepper of your choice.
- Vegan Beef Broth: We like to use the Better than Bullion No Beef paste. If you can’t find this, any vegetable broth should work. We have found that the broth adds enough salt to season the soup, but you can always add salt to taste if needed.
- Vegetables: You can use whatever vegetable combo you would like in this recipe; we opted for white radish (labanos), okra, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, and spinach
- This dish is best served fresh but can keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 5-7 days.
- Category: Entree, Soup
- Cuisine: Filipino
