What's that in my soup!

Today I tried making sinigang for the very first time.  This is one of my favorite Filipino soups.  Not only because it's sooo delicious but also because it's like no other soup I've tried before.


I had some turnips (greens and all) from our CSA and was trying to think of what to do with them over the weekend.  We also had tons of lemons from a big box of fruits my dad gave us.  Funny how after eating turnips, green beans and daikon radishes from our CSA over the past few weeks...months even...it finally hit me that I should make some Sinigang.  Mmmm.

I went to Seafood City to pick up the missing ingredients.  I decided to cheat for my first try and use one of those powdered soup mixes.  I ended up spending at least 20 minutes staring at the wall of powdered soup mixes!  I was glad they had such a great selection, but it was next to impossible to find one without msg.  After looking at the ingredients for at least 8 different mixes I finally found one.  It was made with guava instead of tamarind, but figured I'd give it a try.

There was a recipe on the soup packet, but I'm so bad at following those things.  I made a few modifications.  Those pre-made flavor packets usually have way too much sodium so I added some extra water.  I also was trying to work with the veggies I had instead of buying more, so I omitted the green beans, tomatoes, etc.


....and the final test...how did the family like it?  The way I can tell if a new dish is a keeper is 1) did they go back for seconds? and 2) did hubbie have to drown it with hot sauce?  Well, I'd have to say it was a success because they did go back for seconds and no sriracha required!    Not as sour as sinigang usually is, but that can always be adjusted.  I totally forgot to use the lemon.


I'm trying to cut down on meat these days so wasn't going to include any, but it didn't seem like authentic sinigang unless it had some type of meat.  Seafood city had a good sale on shrimp, so that's what I used.  Again, the soup did turn out great, but next time around I'll have to opt for tofu instead of whole shrimp.  My daughter ended up loving the soup and having seconds...thirds actually, but when she first saw it she said...."Mommy, there's eyeballs in my soup!"


Singang na Hipon Receipe
1 Mama Sita Sinigang Guava Soup Base Mix
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-1/2 c water
3 turnips with greens
1 pound head-on shrimp


Remove the greens from the turnips and thoroughly wash.  Peel and thinly slice the turnips
Saute the onion in olive oil and add garlic
Add in the water, soup mix and shrimp.  Bring back to a boil and simmer until shrimp turns slightly pink
Add the turnips.  Bring back to a boil and simmer until almost cooked.
Turn off the heat and add the turnip greens


*Although the soup mix did not contain monosodium glutamate, it did have disodium inosinate.  After doing some research this appears to be on the naughty list too, boo.  I'll have to make this soup from scratch next time.