Sinigang na Liempo sa Sampaloc with Gabi

Before anything, I know I owe you all a winner of my Barcelona goodies giveaway! The winner is announced below (yay!)!

But wait! Don’t scroll down just yet. I’ve got a recipe for you!  The weather’s been gloomy and wet and just begging for a warm bowl of something revivifying. And sinigang is exactly that…warm, revitalizing, comforting, and, of course, delicious. It is also one of those dishes that my family loves unanimously.

Sinigang na liempo is probably one of our family’s favorite versions of sinigang (the other being beef short ribs). We love our sinigang super asim (sour), thick, and spicy. Although with the kids, we need to dial down the heat a bit. We will still add in a couple of chilies though, but whereas before we would slice them in half, letting their lovely heat out, we now leave them whole, making the heat more muted. What I do to spice up my own bowl is take the cooked and softened sili pangsigang and mash it up, along with some of the soup, with my rice. Try it if you love heat!

So, as you can imagine, with the weather behaving as it has been, my family has been clamoring for sinigang. I figure it was the perfect time to try out the recipe Knorr shared with me for sinigang na liempo!

And as the rain doesn’t look like it is letting up, I’m sharing this recipe with you as well. Hoping this warms your belly as it did mine.

Sinigang na Liempo sa Sampaloc with Gabi
(from Panlasang Pinoy)

• 1 kilo liempo (pork belly), sliced in 2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 liter water
• 1 44g pack Knorr Sinigang na Gabi
• 1 bundle kangkong leaves
• 3 medium taro root (gabi), peeled and halved
• 3 medium ripe tomato, halved
• 2 medium yellow or white onion, quartered
• 2 cups string beans (sitaw), cut in 2 inch length
• 1 large Chinese eggplant (talong), sliced
• 12 pieces okra
• 3 to 4 pieces long green pepper (siling pansigang)
• Fish sauce (patis) to taste

– Boil the water in a cooking pot.
– Add the tomato and onion. Set the heat to medium and continue to boil for 15 minutes.
– Add the pork belly and gabi. Continue to boil in low heat for 1 hour or until the pork gets tender (it took more than an hour for me). Add more water, if necessary.
– Add the Knorr Sinigang na Gabi mix. Stir.
– Add the long green chili and boil for 3 minutes.
– Stir-in the okra, string beans, and eggplant and cook for 5 minutes.
– Add the kangkong and fish sauce. Stir. Cover and turn off the heat. Let it stay covered for 5 minutes.
– Transfer to a serving bowl.
– Serve with warm rice.
– Share and enjoy!

I’m happy to report that this garnered good reviews from my whole family, my husband included. As I have mentioned before, my husband is really the sinigang maker in this family and I must say, this version is very close to his. His just has much more gabi, which he either grates or slices very thinly using a vegetable peeler, which then almost disintegrates into the broth, making it unbelievably thick (which is how we like it). He also uses more vegetables, simply because we love vegetables and usually finish all there is in the pot. And he always uses mustasa (mustard greens)…which is our favorite vegetable for sinigang. Oh, and he likes to add ginger.

Knorr’s sinigang mix with gabi did get the soup quite thick! So if you don’t have the time to go flaking a mound of gabi with a vegetable peeler then know that this will do the trick. During the week it’s difficult for my husband and I (we both have full time jobs!) to get very long and involved dishes to our family table and shortcuts like this help a lot. There is nothing quite like taking a pot of something home-cooked and warming to your eagerly waiting family, and seeing their eyes light up at first bite. And if you are single, believe me that curling up on the sofa with and your favorite pillow, a good book, and something delicious you created yourself is an amazing feeling (I speak from experience!!).

And now, speaking of getting into the kitchen, it’s time to announce the winner of my Barcelona goodies! I am happy to share that the winner is Karen Tolentino!!! Congratulations Karen! I will be in touch with you soon to get your details. I am so excited to share these with you and I look forward to seeing what you do with them in your kitchen. Hope you enjoy using them as much as I do!

And to all the rest of my wonderful troops out there…hope you enjoy something delicious on your tables!

Note: This is part of Knorr’s #LutongNanay campaign which advocates home cooked meals…an effort that is inline with my own beliefs and values. If you’re on Instagram tag your home cooked meals with #lutongnanay to join in!