Hotpot Sinigang

Hotpot sinigang is my favorite way to enjoy my all time favorite Filipino food, and it just happens to be my wife’s favorite too. Sinigang is known for its lip puckeringly sour broth that’s comforting, craveable, and deeply nostalgic. This hotpot style version keeps all the bold flavor while making it faster and easier to pull off on a busy night.

Instead of using a seasoning packet, I use tamarind paste for that clean, bright sourness without all the added salt. Because I always keep thin sliced hot pot meat in the freezer, this version comes together quickly and feels interactive, like eating at your favorite hotpot restaurant at home.

This recipe is incredibly flexible. It works great with beef, pork, shrimp, tofu, or mushrooms. For this version, I used a combination of thin sliced pork belly and jumbo shrimp, which cook quickly and soak up the sour broth beautifully. You can scale this down for a smaller meal or lay everything out and let the whole family cook at the table.

Ingredients

1/2 lb thin sliced pork belly
1/2 lb shrimp
3 cups water, plus more as needed
1 to 2 taro, cubed
3 small tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
1 to 2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp MSG
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tamarind paste diluted in 1 cup hot water, or tamarind packet
1/2 cup sliced daikon
1 eggplant, sliced
1 cup trimmed long beans
1 to 2 sliced jalapeño
4 to 5 baby bok choy, sliced

1. In a hotpot over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté the onion and tomatoes for 3 to 5 minutes until softened. Add the water and bring to a boil.

2. Stir in the tamarind mixture, fish sauce, MSG, and taro. Cover and bring to a rolling boil.

3. Uncover and add the daikon. Cover again and cook for about 5 minutes until the daikon begins to soften. Add the eggplant, long beans, and jalapeño, then cover and cook another 5 minutes.

4. Uncover, lower the heat to medium, and add the bok choy. Stir in the pork belly and shrimp and cook just until the meat is done and the shrimp are no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hotpot sinigang straight from the pot