Sour soup with tiger grouper (sinigang)

Sinigang is a popular Filipino soup with a trademark sour flavour. It can be made with meat or fish, like this recipe.

Sour soup with tiger grouper (sinigang) Credit: The Good Cooks

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres water
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised, tied into knots
• 3 medium tomatoes, cubed
• 2 kg grouper, scaled and cleaned, cut into large pieces, including head
• 1 daikon, peeled, cut into 2 cm wedges
• 1 small eggplant, cleaned, sliced into 5 cm pieces
• 1 medium taro root
• 2 cups snake beans, cut into 2 cm segments
• 5 batwan fruits (see note)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce

Instructions

1. Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add onion, lemongrass and tomato. Boil for 5 minutes.
2. Gently place fish pieces into the boiling pot. Add the chopped daikon, eggplant, taro, snake beans and batwan. Bring the soup back to the boil and cook for approximately 10 minutes. The fish is ready when it feels slightly firm and the flesh is white.
3. Add fish sauce to taste and serve.

Note:

• The batwan fruit can be replaced with tamarind if it is not available.

The Good Cooks premieres on Thursday 8 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Thursdays at 8.30pm (with an encore on Sundays at 6.30pm) on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.